


Her Before Us

by Dragongoddess13



Series: Captain Canary and The Multiverse [7]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-02-29 05:19:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18772006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13
Summary: When Sara rolled into Central after being resurrected, she was just looking for a place to stay while she figured out her next destination. She never intended to get into any trouble and she certainly never expected that trouble to lead her to Leonard Snart. But it does and her life, once again, is changed forever.At least this time it seems to be for the better.Continued from Captain Canary and The Multiverse Vol 2Earth 34: One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted in Captain Canary and The Multiverse Vol 2. But I'm having trouble getting back to writing it, and I've got so many chapters and ideas for this AU that I wanted to post it here so I can continue it without being restrained by the format of the original story. As I update the original story I'll post the three chapters from here there, but this is most likely where you can read it first. So, if you reading Captain Canary and The Multiverse Vol 2 you can skip chapters 6, 16, and 26.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard makes an unlikely acquaintance

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part I

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

Leonard Snart prided himself on many things. His skills as a thief being nearing the top of the list. Among those skills existed an acute sense of situational awareness. The ability to notice the slightest changes in his environment, someone looking his way a little too long, a nervous shift, a dangerous entity, and of course, a deviation in the normal routine.

His routine deviated the minute he laid eyes on her. His crew had just pulled a big job in Keystone City and Leonard had returned to Central afterward to lay low. Feeling a little couped up in his safehouse with the high of a well planned job going off without a hitch still pulsing through his veins, he decided on a jaunt to Saints and Sinners where he would enjoy the usual atmosphere, have a few beers, maybe a burger and then head back to crash.

The bar wasn’t particularly busy, not by Thursday night standards. There were a few groups of regulars spread out along the outside against the walls in the booths. Three frat house looking guys were playing pool with a couple of girls, none of them belonging here, making all kinds of excessive noise and throwing around money, all of them were living it up on their adventure to the seedier side of town. Leonard rolled his eyes, put an order in at the bar and then took his usual seat in the back, the perfect view of the entire bar.

It wasn’t until he sat down that he noticed her. How he could have missed her to begin with he wasn’t entirely sure. She was small, sure, but she wasn’t a regular, so his eyes shouldn’t have glossed over her. She was sitting at a high top, her feet propped up on the rungs of the chair across the table from her. There was a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in front of her a tumblr next to that, and she never looked up from the pocket sized notebook she alternated between flipping through the pages of and making notes in. Other than a good view of the door and the bar, the table didn’t seem to be anything more than a place she found comfortable.

Leonard realized he was being obvious in his observations when she stopped writing to look up abruptly. Her brilliant blue eyes turned to him, not even trailing the rest of the room, just immediately pinpointing him as the source of what he assumed was her feeling of being watched. Leonard diffused the situation with a smirk, a tilt of his beer bottle toward her and then smoothly turning his attention to his food as the waitress brought it to him. He felt her watch him for another minute before turning back to her notebook.

Everything was relatively quiet after that, but as he neared the end of his meal he noticed the three college guys were huddled together. Never a good sign. The one in the middle was being elbowed and ribbed by his friends and the gestures toward the young woman made the topic of their conversation obvious. Eventually he pushed his friends away from him and made his way over. Leonard couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was obvious the woman wasn’t interested. Not to be discouraged he continued to speak to her, leaning into her personal space. Leonard was looking for the right moment to step in, his need to lay low overruled by his desire to put these punks in their place, when the guy snatched the notebook out of the woman’s hands.

Leonard watched the woman, her face neutral but the rage boiling beneath the surface, not all that dissimilar from his partner Mick. She slowly she got up, ignoring his prodding as he flipped through the pages wanting to know what was so interesting that she would ignore him for it. She stood before him, feet shoulder width apart, body loose, ready for a fight.

“You have five second to return that.” she said, Leonard hearing her voice for the first time. A few of the other patrons had caught wind of what was going on and stopped to watch.

“Or what?” he laughed.

“Or I embarrass you in front of your friends.”

The guy laughed, shutting the book and sticking it in his pocket, mocking her. She smirked.

“You were warned.” was the last thing she said and she moved forward swiftly, driving a fist into his gut. He doubled over in pain, coughing and sputtering as she brought her knee up and capped him in the face. He straightened up with the force and the woman grabbed his head, slamming it against the pool table, letting him drop to the floor, groaning in agony. His face was covered in blood and he coughed every so often.

The woman reached down and pulled the notebook from his pocket, slipping it into her own and returning to her table where she slipped her black leather jacket on. This seemed to snap at least one of the other boys from his shock and he cursed at her, moving toward her as she picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels, only slightly less empty than when Leonard had first noticed her. The man raised his hand as if to grab her and with lightning speed she grabbed his hand, bending it back at a painful angle, bringing him to his knees as he struggled for her to let him go. The woman turned back to her bottle and in a feat that _clearly_ impressed everyone watching, she downed the rest of it in one go, before setting it back on the table, releasing the second man and shoving him away with her foot.

With that she sauntered off, stopping just long enough to exchange some folded bills and a few words with the bartender before leaving. Leonard counted to ten, tossed some money on the table and left as well.

The woman was still in the parking lot, straddling the black motorcycle that he had parked his own next to when he pulled in an hour or so before. She was fiddling with the straps of her helmet, struggling as her hands shook. Her breathing was labored and Leonard would have thought she was shot through with adrenaline from the fight if only she wasn’t sitting so tense and rigid.

“That was some show you put on in there.” Leonard spoke up. The woman’s head snapped up, blue eyes sharp as she stared him down. He froze, a feeling of unease washing over him. _“Don’t blink or you’ll miss her attack.”_  a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

She leaned slightly away from him and took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. It dawned on him then that she was fighting an urge. He’d seen it before with junkies on the street. But the urge wasn’t for some illicit substance, the urge was to kill.

“What do you want?” she asked, turning back to her helmet.

Leonard telegraphed his movements, slowly raising his hands. “Just making sure you’re alright. Not that it isn’t obvious you can take care of yourself, but you did drink an entire bottle of Jack by yourself and now you seem intent on driving away.”

“You a cop?” she huffed a laugh, as if she already knew how ridiculous that question was.

Leonard chuckled. “Not if my life depended on it.” he replied.  

“And I suppose your just a concerned citizen.” she added.

“Absolutely.” he told her.

“One that seems very comfortable in a bar full of criminals.”

“Hey, even a crook can be worried about safety.”

She shook her head and took another deep breath. She’d stopped shaking, which was a good sign, and the deadly intent was gone, though he knew better than to think she wasn’t still dangerous.

“I haven’t seen you around here before, I’m Leonard.” he stated simply.

“Sara. And I’m just passing through. Stopped in to meet some friends of friends before I head out again.”

“Going anywhere special?” he asked, trying to keep it light. He wasn’t trying to pry, but this woman had grabbed his attention in away no one else had, at least not for a very long time.

“Not really. Why? You have a suggestion?”

He shrugged. “No, though I hear Bludhaven is beautiful this time of year.”

Before she could reply Leonard straightened up, listening intently. Sara did the same catching the faintest sound of police sirens in the distance.

“Those are definitely headed this way.” he said. Sara looked incredulous.

“You can tell, just by listening?” she asked incredulously.

Leonard smirked. “Impressed.”

She shrugged. “A little.”

“If your interested I know a safe place you can lie low.” he offered. Sara looked him up and down.

“Sure, why the hell not.”

Leonard sauntered over to his bike parked next to her and straddled it, slipping his helmet on. She did the same and then followed him as she pulled out of the parking lot, making it down the street in time to catch a police car and an ambulance as they turned a corner in the opposite direction.

Sara followed Leonard through the streets and eventually into an alley a few miles from the bar. She parked her bike beside his and took her helmet off, dismounting.

“A safe house?” she questioned incredulously as he pulled aside a section of the building’s wall that had, just a moment ago, seemed completely normal.

“I did say it was a _safe_ place to lay low.” Leonard smirked.

Sara rolled her eyes. “You’re one of those guys who thinks puns are funny aren’t you?” she asked slipping through the open panel.

“Puns are _hilarious_.” he replied following her in.

The safe house wasn’t as sparse as she would have thought it would be. There looked to be a few rooms. The one they walked into was set up similarly to a joined kitchen and living room. There was a beat up looking sofa on one end, a card table somewhere near the middle and a galley kitchen on the other end. There were stacks of books and magazines randomly scattered around and the other rooms were all closed off by doors.

“Not planning on staying long?” she asked. She may not know him very well, or at all for that matter, but given his neat appearance she doubted this was a place he was all too comfortable in unless he absolutely had to be.

“No, I’ll move on in a day or so. I made the mistake of letting someone else set this one up.” he explained. She tried not to laugh. “Can I offer you a drink? Guy who set this place up cared more about stocking the liquor cabinet than anything else.”

“Sure.” she replied simply. She watched as he pulled a fresh bottle of Jack out of one of the cabinets and two glasses. He filled each and passed one to her. “So, Leonard, besides drinking, what else is there to do around here?”

“Do you play Gin?” he asked.

“Card games? That’s how you entertain yourself around here?”

Leonard smirked. “Among other things. This however, is the only two person entertainment I can offer you without crossing a line.”

Sara looked like she was suppressing a smile, wageing an internal debate whether or not to rise to his challenge. She leaned forward on the counter. “Your deal.” she told him, stepping back and making her way over to the card table. Leonard took a steadying breath and pulled a deck out of a drawer before joining her.

Sara had taken off her jacket, draping it across the back of her chair. As she sat she leaned a bit, pulling the little notebook out of her jeans pocket and slipping it into the pocket of her jacket.

“Ya know,” Leonard began, shuffling. “That must be pretty important for you to break a guys face over.”

“It’s nothing that can’t be replaced.” she told him, taking a pull from her glass. “That guy just pushed the line a little too far. Probably didn’t need to give him a concussion, the broken nose was good enough, but...” she shrugged.

“Well maybe this will be a teachable moment for him.” he replied as they began to play.

“Doubtful. Men like that rarely ever learn. On the plus side I doubt I’ll have anything to worry about with the Police.”

“What makes you say that?” Leonard asked, taking a card and discarding another.

“Given the normal clientele, at least half, if not all of them probably ducked out the back when they heard the sirens, so there won’t be any witnesses. On top of that those boys are going to have to decide if they want everyone to know they got their asses kicked by a girl half their size. If not they’re going to have make something up that’ll just go cold in a couple of weeks.”

“Either way your home free. As you said, your leaving town in a few days anyway. Gin.” he laid his cards down. Sara looked over his hand, before ceding. She gathered up the cards and shuffled, dealing a new hand.

“So what _is_ in the notebook, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Sara sighed, finished off her drink and standing to retrieve the bottle from the counter. She refilled her glass. “I’ve been a little out of touch for a year or so, it’s just a list of things to catch up on.”

“Out of touch?”

“It’s complicated.” she took a long drink from her glass and Leonard took the hint, dropping the subject.

The next two hours passed with cards and more alcohol. Leonard drank slowly, stopping once he felt a nice buzz, but Sara kept going, giving no indication that she was feeling any effects of the alcohol whatsoever. He briefly entertained the idea that she might be a metahuman, but dismissed it the first time she got up to relieve herself. She swayed on her feet as she stood only enough to look, to anyone who hadn’t seen her finish off nearly two bottles of Jack, as though she had merely misstepped. In an instant she was steady again, making her way to the bathroom and returning to find he’d put the cards away.

“Giving up.” she teased. She hadn’t won a single hand all night. Leonard of course had been cheating and he was fairly certain she knew it, but she didn’t mention it or seem to care.

Leonard smirked. “It’s getting late, and I’m not as young as I used to be. Can’t burn the candle at both ends anymore.

“You will not last the night.” she muttered to herself, standing and returning the nearly empty bottle and glasses to the kitchen. “I suppose I should get going too then. I’m sure it’s clear by now.”

“Are you sure, you’ve been drinking pretty heavily all night.” Leonard replied.

“Still worried about my safety crook, I’m flattered.”

Leonard smirked. “Maybe I’m just hoping you’ll stay and take advantage of me.”

Sara laughed, a very pleasant sound. Leonard had never considered laughter to be pleasant, but with her it surprisingly was.

“You’re very strange Leonard.” she told him.

“Good, I thrive on being unpredictable.”

Sara was slowly moving closer, crossing from the counter to where he stood beside the card table.

“I can’t seem to pin you down.” she continued, standing toe to toe with him. She had to crane her neck back to look him in the eye. Had he always been that tall? She could climb him like a tree.

“After what you did to those guys at the bar, I find that hard to believe.” he replied, leaning into her slightly. She must have felt the shift, her eyes dilating.

“Is that what you want Leonard? To be dominated?” she asked rising up on her toes, a feat that was so smooth and effortless Leonard questioned whether she had actually had anything to drink at all.

They were so close now, breath mingling between them as they stood in a standoff.

“What can I say,” he began, unapologetically. “I have a type.”

Sara reached up and planting her palms against his chest, she pushed him back, the unexpected move, throwing him off and he stepped back. She didn’t stop though, keeping a firm pressure against his chest as she advanced. Leonard took the hint stepping back each time she stepped forward until the back of his knees met the sofa and he let himself fall back onto it.

She smirked down at him, crawling onto his lap with feline grace she should have been incapable of after so many drinks. His hands came up, resting on her hips, fingers flexing against the material of her jeans.

“Mmm, you definitely have a type.” she muttered, feeling the evidence of his arousal between them. Sara leaned in to him, her mouth latching on the column of his neck, finding a sweet spot just below his ear.

Leonard groaned, threading his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her flush against him. He then trailed them up her back and under her shirt, stuttering in his movement only slightly when he felt the numerous, sometimes rather large scars there. He had no room to judge of course, he had plenty of scars of his own he wasn’t looking forward to her seeing, but as she ground down against him, he found his self consciousness, flying from his mind.

Sara’s hands began their own journey, running down his chest and down to the waistband of his jeans. She had the button undone and his zipper down in record time, never ceasing her work on his neck, before trailing her hands up under his sweater. Her nails scratched deliciously at the muscles of his abdomen, never once hesitating over his blemishes. She pulled back long enough for him to pull her shirt over her head and then moved in again, this time working on the other side of his neck. He was sure to have a few telltale marks in the morning, but at the moment he couldn’t find it in him to care.

Sara had almost gotten his shirt off when, he wrapped his hands around her ass and pulled her against him, standing. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he started walking, heading for the farthest closed door from the couch. She continued her ministrations, ignoring what he was doing, where he was going until he dropped her, her back hitting a soft surface. It took only a moment for her to realize they were in a bedroom now, and he had dropped her on a bed.

Leonard stood over her, breathing a bit labored, whether from the exertion of carrying her or what she had been doing to him. She assumed it was the latter, eyeing the prominent bulge through his open jeans. Leonard removed his shirt as she sat up, pulling him by the waist band to stand between her legs. She pushed his jeans off his hips, his briefs following.

“Please tell me we haven’t gone through all of this and you don’t have a condom.” she spoke for the first time since she’d crawled into his lap. Leonard smirked, stepping back, ridding himself of his pants, and turning away to pull open a dresser drawer. He reached in, found what he was looking for and turned around just in time to watch her kick off her jeans. She stood before him in black lace, her hips sharp, her body incredibly toned. He realized as he appreciated her, that she had a lot more scars than he originally realized. He could tell which ones were bullet wounds and which ones were knife wounds. There was a cluster of stab wounds just below her breast bone and he could only guess what made the long angry looking slashes.

He caught her eye and stalked forward, holding up the condom. She took it from him, pulling him down to finally share a kiss. Leonard used the opportunity to wrap his hands around her thighs, lifting her up and moving forward to kneel on the bed. He laid her down gently this time, hovering over her.

“You’re overdressed.” he said, smoothing his palms down her sides.

Sara smirked. “What are you going to do about it?” she challenged, running her hands through his closely cropped hair.

Leonard looked smug. “I think you’ll find, Sara, that I never back down from a challenge.”

“Good.” she replied, throwing her leg over his hip and using her momentum to flip their positions, much to his startled amazement. “I think you’ll find, _Leonard_ , that neither do I.”

Leonard took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was no prepubescent boy, he had plenty of experience with partners of multiple persuasions, but this woman, this woman who was slowly grinding against him, looking for all the world like she just might eat him alive was going to be the death of him. He could feel it.

The sound of the foil ripping, drew him out of his thoughts and he watched as she rolled the condom on, before reaching up and undoing her bra. Leonard sat up against the headboard, pulling her toward him as he did, slipping his fingers into her panties and pushing the garment down. Once she was free of them, she straddled his lap, sinking down onto him slowly. He dug his fingers into her hips as she began to move just as slowly, teasing him.

“Sara.” he breathed, a warning that only spurred her on. They were both so wound up, Sara knew they wouldn’t last and it was only a matter of time before Leonard took matters into his own hands.

Sara was driving him crazy, the slow undulation of her hips not nearly enough to push either of them over the precipice they had been working towards. Eventually he couldn’t take it anymore, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her down against him, stilling her movements. She gasped as he pistoned his hips up into her, a feeling of deep satisfaction settling in him as she dug her nails into his shoulders.

It wasn’t long before they were both nearing the end, and Leonard was determined to make sure she finished as well. He slid his hand between them, placing steady pressure against her clit. She gasped his name, her entire body wrung taught like a bow string as her walls contracted around him.

“Fuck.” he cursed, burying his face in her neck and biting down on the flesh there. Not enough to break the skin, but just enough to make her squirm against him as she came down.

They sat like that for neither knew how long, before Sara pushed off of him, collapsing to the side. Leonard smirked down at her, enjoying the boneless way she struggled to calm herself.

While Sara tried to catch her breath she heard Leonard get up and walk across the room. A door opened before she heard the sound of running water. Not long after he came back in, crawling back up onto the bed beside her. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was until she felt a blanket being draping over her. She turned to look up, watching as Leonard got comfortable on the other side, never once questioning her continued presence there. She had been certain that he wasn’t an overnight kind of a guy, but she supposed he had made it clear he didn’t want her driving in an impaired state. Fucked senseless was about as impaired as it got for her.

Leonard heard Sara laugh and turned to look at her. “Not exactly the response I usually get after sex.” which only made her laugh harder.

“Sorry.” she apologized though he got the feeling she was not in fact sorry for anything. He merely shrugged, switched off the bedside lamp and laid down, drifting off to sleep.

xXx

Sara jerked awake, the voices rising up in cacophony all around her. Another night, another nightmare. At least this time she hadn’t lashed out. She turned her head, letting her eyes adjust to the dark before she could see the faint outline of her bed partner. She smiled to herself. Leonard had been a lot of fun, undoubtedly. Quite the gentleman for a crook, but it was time to move on. There was no need for a night of fun to turn awkward in the light of day, so she carefully slipped out of bed, redressed in the dark and left. Simple as that.

Except, nothing was ever simple when you lived a life like hers.

xXx

19 months later

“We got a problem boss.” was Mick’s only greeting as he stalked toward the wooden work bench Leonard had laid all of his notes and blueprints out on. The Rogues were gathered around, waiting for him to fill them in on their latest heist when Mick dropped a thick manilla envelope on the bench in front of Leonard.

“What the hell is this?” Leonard questioned. The outside was blank, no markings of any kind.

“Special delivery from one of Lewis’ goons.”

Leonard looked up at his oldest friend, an intense glare on his face. Mick knew it wasn’t for him, but he also knew what a piece of work Lewis Snart was and no matter what the reason, chances were, something bad was about to happen.

“What did he say?” Lisa asked, from Leonard’s right.

“Only that it was a job offer, and it was in your best interest to look it over before you make up your mind.” Mick explained. “I got the distinct impression that he’s found leverage somewhere.”

That didn’t make any sense. The only people Lewis could hurt to get to him were Lisa and Mick. He’d defend his crew, sure, but at the end of the day they didn’t mean the same to him as his sister and surrogate brother.

Leonard sighed, opening the envelope, careful to feel for traps before he looked into it. When he was certain it was safe he dumped the contents on the bench.

“Surveillance photos?” Shawna questioned. “Isn’t that the woman from Saints and Sinners last week?”

She was right, it was Sara. The young woman who swept in and out of his life in a single night. She had been gone when he woke up the next morning, no note, no explanation, not that he expected one. He assumed if he ever saw her again, it would be by chance, until the week before when she’d been at the bar before he and his crew walked in. She’d seemed distracted, nervous even, but whatever was bothering her, wasn’t enough to stop her from having a good time with him in the alley behind the bar while everyone else was busy inside.

The photos were taken a good distance away. A few of them were of just her, running through the park, or standing outside a nice house in the suburbs talking to another, older woman with long blonde hair. It was the other photos that brought him up short though.

Sara, carrying a young girl, a bright red stuffed toy of some kind clenched in the girl’s hand. Sara was smiling down at her, laughing. The photo didn’t show the young girl’s face, but she had long curly dark hair. The next one did show her face, and there was a note attached to it.

The little girl was sitting in the yard of the same house in the other photos, same toy in her hand as she looked out at someone out of frame. She was grinning happily. The note simply read;

 _She has your mother’s eyes._  


	2. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara discovers the consequences of their night of fun.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part II

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

Sara’s story was as old as time. She made a mistake and she paid for that mistake. She may have paid for it a little more than necessary, but the consequences of her actions were paid in full, only to be replaced by a new set of actions and consequences. The night she died she figured the universe had finally run out of punishment for her and simply decided to put an end to the cycle. 

From the very beginning, Sara’s life had been one long lesson in cause and effect, so it only made sense that Leonard Snart would be another action she was made to pay for, because  _ apparently  _ condoms were only eighty-five percent effective in practice.  

“I can’t be a mom, Laurel.” Sara whispered, tears drying on her face. “I’m not even sure I’m human anymore.” 

Laurel shifted closer, pulling Sara against her side. “You are human, Sara.” she replied, voice just as soft. “You can do this, you can do anything.” 

Sara had actually gone to Bludhaven. She wasn’t entirely sure what drove her there. Maybe it was her silent way of thanking Leonard for being there that night. For talking her down when the bloodlust was rising up. She could see it in his eyes, he knew what urges she was resisting, but he stayed rooted to his spot, flirting until the intensity of the moment finally faded from her body. She supposed, on some level that was why she agreed to go with him when the sirens had sounded. She could have hidden out at Star Labs, she was already crashing there while she was in town. The police, if they were even looking for her, would never have looked for her there, but there was something about Leonard Snart. Maybe it was his charm, or his ungodly cheekbones, or maybe it was just the way that he didn’t make her feel like a monster for what he had witnessed. In fact he seemed amused by it more than anything. 

Gin wasn’t exactly how she thought the night was going to go. If she were honest, she assumed they’d get to wherever he was taking her, flirt some more and then spend the night wrapped around each other on every surface of his safe house. She was glad it hadn’t happened like that though. Playing cards, sharing a bottle of jack, although he’d given up drinking around the time she’d realized he was cheating, it was all very...calming. So when they finally did make it to the expected portion of the night it wasn’t fast or wild or overwhelming, it was just two people enjoying each others company. 

“I don’t know why they call it morning sickness if I’m sick all day.” Sara complained, her feet propped up on the edge of the chair across from her. She was absently rubbing at her stomach and nibbling on saltines. 

“I could never figure that out either.” Lyla replied from across the bunker. 

Everyone had taken the news of her pregnancy about as well as she would have expected. Felicity stuttered a bit but quickly regained whatever composure she was capable of and suddenly she was getting snaps of cute baby onsies and toys everytime Felicity went out or had free time to browse the internet. Thea had laughed and made a joke about not being the rebel who got pregnant first and then had to backtrack to reassure Roy there was no surprise announcement waiting for him when they were alone. Laurel of course was supportive and from what Sara could tell, pretty excited at the prospect of being an aunt. Diggle was happy for her, reminding her that a mother who could take down a man twice her size would have no problem protecting her child. Lyla offered her all of her baby books with a congratulations and Oliver, well, Oliver was Oliver. 

Her parents on the other hand, were a completely different story. Her mother was as excited to be a grandma as Laurel was to be an aunt, her father, however, was more concerned with whether or not she knew who the father was. She wasn’t insulted by the question, she could tell he was having trouble processing and that seemed to be the only thing that would come out of his mouth. She just wished he hadn’t of asked that in front of everyone, because explaining to a group of vigilantes that she had a one night stand with The Flash’s arch nemesis, Captain Cold, (who she did not know was such at the time) wasn’t the easiest thing she’d ever done, and she used to kill people for a living. 

Her father nearly had another heart attack, or at least it looked like it. She was pretty sure he was overreacting. Laurel already knew, and while she wasn’t thrilled she would admit that he was handsome enough that their kid would be gorgeous. Felicity stuttered a lot, again, Thea laughed, Roy had nothing to say that didn’t involve tripping over his own tongue. Diggle and Lyla promised to bring the full weight of ARGUS down on him if he ever stepped out of line with her, and Oliver? He was doubled over in laughter, shockingly enough. 

“Please, let me be there when you tell Barry.” he said. Felicity punched him in the shoulder. Sara just rolled her eyes. 

“You’re awful.” she told him. He just shrugged and went back to doing whatever he had been doing with his bow. 

The months passed, at some point she told Team Flash what was going on, making Barry promise not to stick his nose in and try to convert Leonard to the hero side in the six months before she gave birth. In fact she made it very clear that he wasn’t supposed to know at all. She didn’t need the extra complication. She promised she would tell him eventually, it was only right, but for now, they didn’t need to make things harder than they needed to be. She would make sure her little girl knew who her father was, she just may not be so lucky as to know him personally. 

At eight months she felt like a whale. She waddled from room to room, despite her hard fought grace and agility. Everything felt swollen and gross and she couldn’t figure out why they called this a miracle. But then she would be laying in bed at night, a nightmare ready to rip through her sanity and the baby would kick, waking her immediately. She felt a wave of love wash over her at the idea that her daughter could sense her pain and was trying to protect her. 

Laurel, Felicity and Thea threw her a baby shower, inviting Lyla, Caitlin, Iris, her mother and Felicity’s mom who Sara was surprised to find out was dating her father (she couldn’t imagine why no one had told her that, though she supposed she’d been a little preoccupied with not being dead anymore). Cecile, Joe’s fiance and Jesse Wells were there as well. Word had seemed to have gotten around who the father was, because half of everything was winter themed and the other half was Flash themed in an apparent attempt to spite Leonard. Her favorite was probably the stuffed Flash doll which looked kind of angry, the completely wrong expression for anyone who knew ‘literal ray of sunshine’ Barry Allen. 

“If he ever wants to meet her, you have to introduce them while she’s wearing this.” Iris laughed, holding up the little red dress with the red and yellow tulle skirt and flash symbol on the chest. “And make sure you take a picture of his face when he sees it.” 

“I don’t know,” Caitlin replied. “I kind of want to see his reaction to the tiny parka.” 

Sara laughed, listening to the women debate the merits of each outfit. She was glad everyone was making light of this, because she had a distinct feeling it wasn’t going to go as smoothly, or be as easy as they said. She’d done her research on Leonard Snart after she’d found out she was pregnant. He started out in a decent home, but it all seemed to go downhill from there. His father was a crook, and from the looks of his jacket not a very good one. He made his plans and when those went south he tended to shoot his way out. He was no stranger to hurting people to get what he wanted and based on some of the incident reports from Leonard’s school, right up until he dropped out, that included his son. 

Leonard on the other hand was an excellent crook. He’d been caught a few times, starting at fourteen, but for every crime he was convicted of there were at least five he got away with. He was by all accounts a genius tactician with an eye for detail and a flair for the dramatic. He also lived by a code. He ran drug dealers out of the neighborhood he’d claimed as his territory, strictly forbid any member of his crew from stealing or hurting anyone who couldn’t afford to be stolen from or fight back and he never left a member of his crew behind, and if he did, he always had a plan to break them out. Leonard Snart may not have been on the right side of the law, but life didn’t seem to be on the right side of him. Everyone had to play the cards they were dealt and life had dealt him a shitty hand that he had made the best of. 

At nine months, three weeks and four days, Sara was ready to go. She was miserable. She had to pee every thirty minutes, she felt like she was suffocating under the weight of her own uterus and little baby no name, (because nine months later she still couldn’t decide on a name), was as content as could be to stay just where she was. 

“Consider this your eviction notice, baby girl.” Sara muttered as she took a huge bite of spicy curry. Beside her, Thea snorted into her iced tea. Laurel and Felicity weren’t fairing much better across the table from her. 

“I take it you’ve given up on the prenatal yoga.” Felicity said. 

“No amount of League training can prepare you for the complexities of getting out of downward facing dog while your front heavy.” 

Thea grinned. “I would pay to see that.” 

“It’s not as funny as it sounds.” Laurel replied. “It’s actually kind of sad.” 

Sara rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s almost like a turtle being stuck on its back.” 

Only the daughter of Sara Evelyn Lance would decide to make her presence known at the most inopportune moment; down in the bunker in the middle of an important mission against Damien Darhk’s forces. Thankfully her mother had come into town to be there for the birth and she and Donna got her to the hospital while everyone else finished the mission. 

Louisa Laurel Lance came into the world on April 9, 2016. She was cooed over and passed from one family member to the next. She was adored and loved and spoiled from the moment she came into the world. 

“I swear my phone is nothing but pictures of her.” Laurel said one evening as she laid on the floor next to Louisa. Louisa, who everyone called Lou was gurgling happily and flailing her chubby little arms and legs as she tried to scoot across the blanket on her stomach. 

At six months old Louisa Lance had dark curly hair and the cutest chubby cheeks anyone had ever seen. Louisa had her father’s complexion, her mother’s bright blue eyes and a smile that could melt even Oliver’s cool facade. In fact, with the exception of her eyes, Louisa looked almost exclusively like her father. Which was, unfortunately, a constant reminder that she should probably figure out what she was going to do about him and fast. 

“I hacked Central City General Hospital.” Felicity admitted one evening in the bunker. 

“Why?” Roy questioned as he helped Thea and Oliver restock the arrow supply. 

“I wanted to see if there were any pictures of Snart when he was born.” she replied guiltily. 

“Felicity, that’s illegal.” Laurel said. 

“So is what we do every night.” 

No one could argue with that.

“ _ Were _ there any pictures?” Sara asked, shifting Louisa on her lap. She ignored Laurel’s incredulous look. 

“There was one.” Felicity explained pulling it up. 

“Wow,” Laurel said as they studied the photo of baby Leonard, swaddled in a navy blue blanket and cap. “You know I never doubted you when you said he was the father but… just wow.” 

“She is definitely his kid.” Roy added, stepping up behind them at the computer bank. “A crook and and a former assassin for parents, she’s going to be a little trouble maker.” 

“You don’t know that.” Sara defended. 

“Even if she’s only like you she will be. You were daddies little rebel growing up.” Laurel laughed. 

Sara shook head, ruefully replying; “Alright, you know what, she’s seven months old. Let’s wait to start compiling a police record until she’s at least two.” 

When Louisa was nine months old, Sara decided to move to Central City. It was time to figure out how to approach Leonard about the consequences of their one night of fun. 

Still completely unsure how she planned to accomplish that, she packed up what she could into the SUV she’d bought with funds accumulated through her time with the League and set off across the country for Central. Felicity promised to have everything else shipped to her once she settled on a place to live. 

Central was as she remembered it, although she hadn’t really expected it to change while she was gone. She stayed with her mother for a week or two while she looked around for a house, eventually settling on a simple tudor house in the suburbs a few blocks over from Joe West’s home. 

She could admit it was surreal having an entire team of superheroes helping her move. She wouldn’t complain about the help though. Her mother was all too happy to baby sit while they moved in boxes and furniture and whatever else Felicity had shipped, (because bless her, she definitely sent more than just their possessions, and whatever else she had at her sister’s). Cisco insisted on installing a security system and she was not going to tell him no, but she drew the line at the home theatre.

“That’s the last of it.” Ray Palmer said as he set the final box on the ground in the living room. Ray had been staying at Star Labs for the last few weeks (ever since they put a stop to Darhk’s plans), trying to figure out what his next step should be, especially since he had yet to tell the world he was still alive. His presence in Central had the added bonus of an extra genius around to help with Flash’s missions. Ray, being kind of a big kid himself, adored Louisa and had become a friend Sara could appreciate. 

“Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the help.” 

“Think nothing of it.” Cisco replied. “If your neighbors weren’t so close, Barry could have had this all done a few hours ago though.” 

“Hey, I offered.” Barry said as he came in, Iris and Joe on his heels. 

Sara merely smiled at him. 

“So, do you need help setting anything up?” Caitlin asked. “I don’t mean to brag, but I am an expert at putting together IKEA furniture.” 

“That’s definitely something to brag about.” Cisco replied seriously. 

“I’ll be alright. My mom has Lou for the night, so I’ll just get her room and mine set up. Her room has already been painted and the crib is still in one piece, so it’s only a matter of putting her stuff away.” 

“Well, if you change your mind, feel free to call.” Iris told her. 

She agreed easily enough and they all filled out. Once they were gone, Sara spent the rest of the afternoon setting up the nursery. Once that was done she threw most of her stuff together for her room, unpacked everything she would need for the night and the next morning and then set about getting ready. 

Sara wasn’t entirely sure what was going to happen tonight. She wasn’t even sure that Leonard was in town. Barry had explained why he hadn’t made any moves to stop Leonard in a while and while Sara definitely didn’t approve she did consider it just another example of his tactical skills. That being said, Barry had confided that he was fairly certain Leonard was making it a habit not to pull too many jobs in Central, lest he abuse their agreement. 

With all that in mind, it was a very real possibility that Leonard wasn’t in town. Considering that when they had first met he was only in Central to lay low after pulling a job elsewhere, it was possible that lightning wouldn’t strike twice, even in a place like Central. 

It was unseasonably warm for Central City in January, so Sara took advantage and pulled her motorcycle out of the garage where she had stashed it when the rest of her things had arrived from Star City. She mounted her bike and made her way through the streets of Central, finding herself in the parking lot of Saints and Sinners once again. There were three other motorcycles in the parking lot, one of which she was almost certain was Leonard’s, but she squashed down the hope with her nerves and made her way inside. 

Leonard was at the same table as before, she got the impression that that was his table, and this time he wasn’t alone. She counted six others, all of whom she recognized from Leonard’s file of known associates, including his little sister and his partner. This was his crew, the people he trusted to have his back during a job. She guessed they were either planning something here in Central or were simply taking a break to catch up after laying low. 

She ignored them as she made her way to the bar, taking a seat and ordering a beer. She felt the familiar sensation of being watched and squashed her initial urge to look for the source. She already knew who was watching her. 

“Back again I see.” the bartender greeted her as he set a bottle in front of her. She smirked. 

“Yeah, just circling back, figured I had so much fun here last time I would stop in again.” 

The bartender, a gray haired man who had undoubtedly seen his fair share of prison cells himself, laughed. “Well, there aren’t any college idiots running around tonight, but any one of these guys’ll take a beating just as well. Might even fight back.” 

“Here’s hoping.” she saluted him with her bottle, before taking a drink. 

She knew the moment Leonard began his approach, not simply because of her years of highly trained instincts, but because the bartender glanced over her shoulder before telling her to ‘give him a holler’ if she needed anything else. 

“So, how was Bludhaven?” Leonard was so close, his voice low, a deep rumble that reminded her just how long it had been since she’d been with anyone. Almost nineteen months, but who was counting (she was, she was definitely counting). 

“Nauseating.” she stifled a laugh at his confused look. She simply waved it off. “So,” she glanced over her shoulder, catching sight of his crew. Their eyes all shifted back to their drinks as she turned. “Business or pleasure?” 

Leonard glanced back casually as well. All six feet of him were leaning against the bar like a big lazy cat, one foot propped on the foot bar along the bottom, a long neck in his hand.

“Now why can’t it be both?” he questioned. 

Sara hummed. “Right. What’s that saying? Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” 

“Which is perfect for me, because I hate work.” 

She laughed. “Who doesn’t.” she turned back to her drink, taking a hefty swig. 

“So,” he eventually continued. “How long are you in town for this time?”

“A while. The wanderlust has faded a bit so I thought I’d pick a place and settle for awhile.” 

“And you chose Central?” 

She smiled teasingly. “Of course. I mean I have such good memories here.” 

“Is that right?” 

She nodded. “Figure I might like to recreate a few at some point.” 

“I’m sure you’ll find that whoever shared those memories with you would be happy to oblige.” 

“Is that so?” she asked leaning a little closer. He hummed. “Well, it’s too bad that  _ whoever  _ has a party to entertain. Wouldn’t want to be rude and ditch them.” 

“They’ll get over it.” he replied without missing a beat. 

Sara smirked, leaning ever closer. She didn’t really have a plan at this point. She supposed sexing him up and then dropping the baby bomb on him when his guard was down afterward was a plan. A seriously dick move the likes of which even Oliver wouldn’t have abided by, but it was a plan nonetheless. 

She was just about to suggest they make their escape when her phone buzzed, loudly, in her pocket. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she muttered pulling away, her only consolation was noticing the visible way Leonard deflated at the interruption. 

“What?” she answered none to gently, not feeling the slightest bit bad at the way Ray sounded thoroughly cowed on the other end of the line. 

“Um… is this a bad time?” he asked, there was a weird static in the background behind him. 

She sighed. “No, what’s wrong?” 

“Well, there’s a little situation at the lab that could use your specific skill set.” he told her, the static got a little louder before cutting out entirely, giving way to a few shouts from who she thought was Cisco. 

“I’m on my way.” she simply replied, hanging up. She tossed a bill on the bar top and turned back to him. “Raincheck?” she asked. 

“Well if your going to be in town for awhile I suppose we’re more than likely to run into each other again.” he replied. She smirked, slipping off her stool. “At least let me walk you out.” 

“Afraid I’ll beat up more frat guys?” she turned to leave. 

“Well I certainly don’t want to take the chance of missing that.” he replied following her out into the parking lot. 

“So, I guess I should just keep showing up here and you’ll be around?” she questioned, stopping beside her bike. 

“At this stage that seems like the best way.” he replied. She hummed, stepping up to him. 

“See you around then.” she lifted up to plant a kiss at the corner of his mouth before turning and mounting her bike. She didn’t look back at him once as she put her helmet on and took off down the road, but if she had she would have seen something that would have given her far too much hope. 

xXx

Dinah brought Louisa home the next morning, spending a few hours there with her in the yard while Sara continued to unpack. When she’d made a decent dent, Sara went outside to see what they were up to. 

“I don’t suppose you can watch her again tonight?” she asked, picking the young girl up and setting her on her hip. Louisa rested her head against her mother’s shoulder, her flash doll, which was never far from her reach clutched in one hand. 

“Of course, you never have to twist my arm for that.” Dinah replied. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah, I, uh, I’m trying to work out how to tell Leonard about all of this.” she explained. “I ran into him last night and we got to talking, but I got called to the lab for an emergency before I could say anything.” 

Sara felt the telltale prick of being watch and looked around, but saw nothing. It didn’t sit well with her, so she packed everything up and led them all back inside, where she made lunch. 

That night found Sara pulling up to Saints and Sinners once again, this time, only seeing Leonard’s bike in the parking lot. He was at his usual table, a long neck in front of him a second in front of the seat across from him. She made her way over, slipping into the seat across from him. 

“Crook.” she greeted, taking a long pull from the bottle he’d left for her.  

“Sara.” he replied. “I hope you turned your phone off tonight.” 

“I’ve given very strict instruction not to call unless someone is dead or dying.” she replied, leaning over the table toward him. 

He smirked. “Good, if I’m going to catch flack from my crew about a pretty girl, I’m going to make sure it’s worth my while.” 

Sara laughed. “They gave you a hard time huh?”

He hummed. “We weren’t in the middle of planning anything last night, but it’s rare for any of us to break off so early in the night.”

“And you had to come back empty handed, that had to sting.” she laughed. 

He shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll make up for it tonight...assassin.” Sara looked startled. “The more I thought about it the more it made sense. The way you move, the dangerous air you give off, the way you beat up those guys last year. And then there was your notebook. You said you were out of touch for a year and trying to catch up. You were either in hiding or in some foreign prison.” 

Sara smiled ruefully. “I suppose it could be called a prison.” 

“So I’m right then, you are an assassin.” 

Sara took a pull from her beer. “I’m retired, but yes.” 

“Retired? And so young too.” 

She huffed a laugh. “Yes, well, the assassin thing wasn’t exactly a choice. Not a free one anyway. And this conversation isn’t going to get me going for whatever you have planned tonight.” 

To his credit, Leonard backed off immediately. Unfortunately, before he could distract her she felt that oh so familiar feeling of being watched again. Discreetly she looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Did you come alone tonight?” she asked, turning back to him.

“I assure you, despite my many kinks, exsibitionism is not among them.” he told her, taking a drink from his beer. 

“Well that’s good to know.” she replied. The feeling disappeared and she chalked it up to nerves. “What do you say we get out of here?” 

“Not much for foreplay tonight, huh?” he teased. 

She smirked. “Let’s just say it’s been awhile.” 

She didn’t need to say anymore and Leonard stood, tossing a few bills on the table and gesturing her out ahead of him. Once outside, Leonard assumed Sara would make her way toward their bikes, but she surprised him, taking hold of the edge of his parka and pulling him into the alley instead. He’d barely had time to register what her plan was when she pushed him back against the brick wall of the bar and pressed herself along his body. She cut off any question with her mouth on his, and Leonard relaxed into it, letting her lead.  

As the kiss heated up, he pushed back, pressing her into the opposite wall. She pulled away, smirking and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He held her easily enough, his parka open and wrapped around them, providing a little privacy should someone walk by. 

Don’t ask her how they managed to do it, she’s not entirely sure, but in moments his fly is down, his cock free and the next she can feel him freeing her from her jeans, all while remaining locked around each other. 

“I’m on the pill.” she told him when she felt him hesitate, and then he wasn’t hesitating anymore, driving into her and setting up a hurried pace. It was exactly what she needed after so long without contact. Between giving birth and taking care of their daughter, it had never felt right to hook up with someone else. But in that moment she was glad she had waited. Call her sentimental but it just felt right being with him again. 

Sara sealed her mouth against his to stifle the scream that wanted to rip from her as she tipped over the edge. When they were finished they stood there, her legs still wrapped around him, his body pressing her into the brick wall and his forehead resting against her’s. 

“I’d say that was worth the wait.” he muttered with a lazy smirk. Sara smirked back in total agreement. 

After a few moment they pulled apart, taking turns covering for each other as they straightened themselves out. “So,” Leonard began when he was finished. “What now?”

Sara looked up at him and there must have been something on her face, because before she knew it he was taking a step back. “What wrong?” he asked. 

“I need to tell yo…” Sara was cut off by a loud explosion, and on instinct they both ducked down. “What the fuck was that?” she asked. 

“In this town, my money's on a metahuman.” Leonard replied, peeking out of the alley to look around. On the far end of the street smoke was rising out of a building and Leonard cursed. He turned to address Sara but when he did he found the space behind him empty. With the inhabitants of the bar spilling out on the street and police sirens in the distance he had no choice but to turn and run, having no idea that the next time he saw Sara, his entire world was going to change.

xXx

For over a week, Sara, as The Canary, worked alongside the Flash and his team tracking down the metahuman who had been blowing up random building around the city, starting with the warehouse down the street from Saints and Sinners. In all the chaos she’d never been able to find Leonard again, not that she thought he wouldn’t be a little peeved that she had just disappeared on him that night, especially when she was about to drop the baby bomb on him (though he didn’t know that was what she needed to tell him). In the last week she’d only had time to focus on helping out Team Flash and being there for Lou, which was the most important of the two in her opinion. 

Sara sighed as she collapsed into a chair in the lab. Freshly showered and back in her civilian clothes she was ready to go home, cuddle her baby and sleep late into the morning. 

“I thought we’d never catch that guy.” Cisco mumbled, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. 

“I second that.” Barry sighed. “I say we all head home and reconvene tomorrow afternoon.” 

“Reconvene?” Sara questioned incredulous. “You’re spending way too much time around Olie.” 

Iris snorted. 

“Hey, that’s not a bad thing, he knows what he’s doing.” Barry defended.

Sara laughed. “Olie’s greatest ability is convincing everyone that he’s not making everything up as he goes along.” 

“I’m sorry what?” Iris asked, trying not to laugh. 

Sara grinned. “I’ve said too much.” she told them, leaning over to grab her cellphone as it started going off. 

The smile waned as she caught her mother’s picture on the caller id. “Mom? It’s late, what’s wrong?” she asked, aware that everyone was listening. “Whoa, wait, slow down, what happened?” she looked to Joe across the room. “Okay, call the police I’m on my way.” 

“What happened?” Joe asked as she hung up, quickly grabbing her jacket. 

“Someone broke into my mother’s house. They took Lou.” 

xXx

It took the entire team to keep Sara from going off on her own to hunt down the men who took Louisa. Her mother was angry enough at the intrusion that even injured she wasn’t about to take it easy. It was easy for the team to see where Sara got her drive from. 

A look through mugshots told them exactly who took her, and before anyone could consider that they didn’t have eyes on Sara she was gone, comm off, tracking down Lewis Snart on her own. 


	3. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis Snart learns the hard way, not to mess with a mother's cub.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part III

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

If looks could kill Lewis Snart would be dead.

Her name was Louisa Laurel Lance according to the copy of the birth certificate Lewis had sent in the envelope. She was born April 9, 2016 making her almost ten months old. Suddenly, what Sara had been struggling to tell him became much more clear. She was beautiful baby, looking a bit like him when he was that small. She’d been awake for as long as they had been there, looking around with wide curious eyes, landing on him occasionally and smiling every time, like she knew who he was.   

“Now Now Leo, there’s no reason to look so sour. We’re just having a little family reunion.” Lewis said, standing far too close to the baby carrier than Leonard would have liked. Lisa was standing beside him, just as tense, mostly likely equal parts angry about all of this and the proximity to her childhood tormentor.

“And what makes you think she’s mine?” Leonard asked, his voice as icy as his code name. He had no doubt she was his. The things Sara had let slip the week before, her hesitance to tell him what had been on her mind the last time they had been together. On top of that, her age lined up with the last time he’d seen her.

“Your name’s on her birth certificate.” Lewis replied simply.

“She could have lied. They don’t exactly check paternity when they fill them out.”

“It’s certainly not that much of a stretch, she looks just like your mother. And there’s also the matter of the time you and her mother have spent together in the last week.”

Given the look on Lewis’ face, it wasn’t hard to figure out exactly what he meant by that. Leonard didn’t reply, putting his energy, instead, into tracking his surroundings discreetly. There wasn’t much he could do at the moment, Lewis currently held most of the cards, but like any good cheater, Leonard had an ace up his sleeve. He just hoped Sara made it before they had to take matters into their own hands.

xXx

After that first night at the bar, upon her return, Sara had called Felicity and asked her to pinpoint as many of Leonard’s safehouses as she could. She wasn’t able to find many, a testament to his own skill, but there was one in particular that she did find that stood out to Sara. A warehouse on the east side, far too big to be defensible for just himself and his sister. No this safehouse was meant for planning; for his whole crew.

And that’s exactly who she found, raging against each other as they argued over, from the sounds of it, Leonard and Lisa. She slipped through the shadows, easily covered by the darkness in her black leathers, walking up on them without any of them noticing. She was sure Leonard would have something to say to them about that later.

“Where is Lewis?” Sara asked, startling the group. They all turned on her, weapons drawn. One of them, a young woman disappeared in a puff of smoke only to reappear behind her, lashing out. Sara was faster though, spinning out her reach, slapping a power dampener on her wrist and flipping her onto her back on the table between them and the rest of the crew, Sara’s hand around her throat. The other’s hesitated to do anything after that.

“The only reason any of you are still alive is out of a courtesy for Len, now where is Lewis?” she demanded. It was a bit much, but she could feel the blood lust boiling just beneath the surface.

“We don’t know.” Mick spoke up, his voice gruff. “One of his goons dropped that off for him with instructions to call him.” he gestured to the file that had been spread out on the workbench. Surveillance photos of her house, of Lou and her mother playing in the front yard. A copy of Lou’s birth certificate and even a photo of the two of them standing outside Saints and Sinners on that first night a week prior.

That certainly settled the nagging voice in the back of her mind that considered Leonard might be in on all of this. That he had figured out who she was and who she was working with and that this whole scheme may be a way to get to Barry. But there was also a part of Sara that reminded her that Leonard was a man of honor and whether he wanted a child in his life or not he would never do anything to hurt her intentionally or otherwise. He was everything his father wasn’t and that included being a better man.

Sara released her hostage, removing the bracelet. “What number did he call?”

When she’d released Shawna they had slowly lowered their weapons. Mick gestured to the small scrap of paper among the other pages. Sara picked it up, then tapped her comm on, turning to walk away.  

“Thank god! Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you?” Cisco’s voice sounded immediately, launching into some long winded lecture about teamwork and watching each other’s backs.

“Cisco! Save the lecture for later. I need you to trace a burner phone.” She said, stepping out onto the street. “I sent you the number.”

“Alright, I got it, you’re not far, sending GPS to your bike.” Cisco replied.

“Good, Barry are you listening?” Sara asked.

“I’m here.”

“Meet me there.”

“On my way.”

xXx

“What’s the plan?” Lisa muttered once Lewis’ attention was elsewhere. Every so often her eyes would stray to Louisa who’d fallen asleep not long ago. It was good sign that so far she hadn’t been mistreated.

“Hopefully it’ll be here soon.” Leonard replied simply. Lisa looked incredulous.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Leonard sighed. “Do you trust me?”

“You know I do.”

“Then stay calm and follow my lead.”

“Fine, but when all of this is over we have a lot to talk about.”

“I’d say so.” he replied, scanning the room again. He turned to face Lisa then. “Between you and me though. Her mother is force to be reckoned with, that is if I’m right about exactly who she is.”

“You don’t know who she is?”

Leonard smirked. “I know enough. Now get ready, it’s about to get messy.”

Lisa tensed as a scream rang out above them, a man falling from the catwalk. Lewis and the rest of his men jumped to attention, drawing their weapons.

“Very messy.” Leonard muttered under his breath, drawing his own gun. Lisa followed his lead.

“What the hell is going on?” Lewis demanded turning to Leonard

“Did you even bother to look into her mother?” he didn’t give Lewis a chance to answer. “Of course not, because you don’t think like that. Always assuming your plan will work even when there’s evidence to the contrary.”

“What the hell are you going on about?”

Another scream rang out, another of Lewis’ men appeared out of the shadows, this time to the left of them. His face was bloody and he was whimpering, clutching what looked to be a very broken hand. Leonard would be surprised if he was ever able to use it again.  

“If you had bothered to do your homework, you’d know exactly what I’m talking about.”

A third member of the crew screamed, rolling out of the shadows unconscious. Lewis and his men turned in the direction he’d come from, only for the two men around him to fall, cut down by thrown knives. Two of Lewis’ men remained, one on either side of Leonard and Lisa, and Leonard was all too happy to get rid of them.

“Enough!” Lewis exclaimed, turning to grab Louise, only to stop frozen by the long blade against his neck. Leonard smirked, watching as Sara stepped out of Lewis’ shadow, the blade of her katana pressed tightly to his throat.

“Step away from her and I won’t kill you.” Sara’s voice was modulated, undoubtedly to stir fear in Lewis. It seemed to be working.

“Like I said,” Leonard began, speaking to Lisa but loud enough for the whole room. “A force to be reckoned with.”

“Getting into bed with heroes, Leo, I thought you were better than that.” Lewis grunted, lifting his chin as the blade pressed a little harder against his throat.

“Mistake number two, Lewis.” Sara told him.

In a split second decision, Lewis jerked free of the blade, diving for the baby carrier, only to wail in agony as Sara brought the blade of her sword down, slicing off his arm at mid forearm.

“I’m not a hero.”

xXx

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Barry asked as he stopped beside her post outside the warehouse.

“You’re my back up.” she replied. “I read Lewis’ file when I was looking into Leonard. There’s a good chance he may have a contingency plan in there incase this all goes south on him. I can handle him and his men otherwise, but just in case I need you out here to race in if he’s got something hidden.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Barry questioned.

“Afraid I’ll kill him?” Sara asked.

Barry shrugged. “A little.” he replied just as chorus of team Flash echoed the same over the comms.

Sara sighed. “Look, I’m not going to kill him. I can’t promise he’ll come out of there in one piece, but I won’t kill him. I promise. And, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll only maim him if he tries to use Louisa to escape.”

“I get the feeling that’s as good as it’s going to get.” normally Sara would smirk, or shoot back a witty remark. The fact that she didn’t, spoke volumes on her mental state at the moment. “Alright, comms open. The minutes I hear something I don’t like I’m coming in.”

“Better plug your ears then.” she muttered.

As angry as Sara was, she did manage to make a mental note to thank Barry, Cisco and Ray later. Three of them kept up a running dialogue in her ear, cracking dark jokes with every scream and commenting on her ruthlessness with wit and pithy. The stream of words kept her grounded, centered, and soon enough she felt the blood lust start to sink into the recesses of her mind.

“Did Captain Cold just compliment her?” Cisco asked.

“You know it could just be the situation, but he doesn’t seem all that freaked out about Lou being his kid.” Barry added.

“Daddy cold…. Ew no, forget I said that.” Cisco added.

 _“Getting into bed with heroes, Leo, I thought you were better than that?”_ Lewis’ voice trickled through the comms.

“Huh, literally.” Ray replied, followed by a minor exclamation of pain and an apology.

 _“Mistake number two Lewis.”_ Sara replied, cutting off anymore chatter.

They could hear a scuffle of clothing and then Lewis was screaming.

_“I’m not a hero.”_

“Aww yeah, that sounded badass.” Cisco exclaimed. “Wait….what did she do to him?”

 _“She cut off his arm.”_ Barry replied. _“Is it wrong that I don’t care?”_ he continued.

 _“Stepping out of the limelight, Scarlett, didn’t think you had it in you.”_ Leonard replied.

_“That’s not…”_

_“If you want me to keep my promise about not killing him I suggest you get him to the hospital before he bleeds to death.”_ Sara cut off whatever argument Barry planned to reply.

 _“Right.”_ Barry said, followed by the sharp crackle of the lightning around him as he took off.

“Alright Sara, it’s just you and Snart now, you got this.” Ray said. “Just be honest with your feelings, you …”

Sara sighed. _“Enough Ray. I’ve already got plenty of voices in my head, I don’t need yours too.”_ she replied before the comm went dead.

“Did she just hang up on us?”

“The comm equivalent of that, yes.” Caitlin replied patting him on the shoulder.

xXx

Leonard watched as Sara jammed her ear bud into one of her utility pouches and turned to Louisa. Her gloves came off before she reached forward and picked her up, cradling the sleeping child against her. How she managed to sleep though everything Leonard would never understand, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t thankful.

Leonard had never considered having children, it just wasn’t something he believed to be feasible in his line of work. That didn’t mean he didn’t like kids though. In fact he loved kids. He loved to see them happy in a way he never had been. He loved to see them being themselves, having fun, seeing life as only a child can. He always went out his way to make sure no children would ever get hurt in the commission of his plans and if any child ever got caught up in one he took great care to ensure they weren’t scared.

And now he was a father. One night of fun culminating in the creation of something so small and innocent. Something in his chest constricted as Sara turned around and he caught sight of her cradling the little girl, his little girl.

“I’m taking her home.” Sara said, breaking him from his thoughts. “If your half as good as I know you are, you read everything Lewis sent you and you’ll know exactly where that is.” she continued, not waiting for a response as she turned and walked away.

When she was gone, Leonard turned to Lisa. “Go back to the warehouse, let everyone know what happened and get rid of that file. I don’t want anyone I don’t trust getting their hands on it. I’ll call you later.”

Lisa wanted to argue, but she let it go, waiting for Leonard to leave before she too ducked out.

xXx

Sara heard him come in. She was sure that was for her benefit. Changed out of her leathers she was cradling Louisa’s sleeping form against her when he stepped into the bedroom. It was relatively sparse, the walls a blande white, the furniture only really what she needed and nothing more. A direct contrast to the colorful paint, decorations and toys of Louisa’s room, which he passed on his way down the hall.   

Sara looked up at him with sad tired eyes.

“Thank you.” she spoke softly.

“For what?” he asked, removing his parka and laying it over the rocking chair in the corner.

“For going tonight. I can’t imagine bowing to Lewis for any length of time was easy.”

“So you know all about him then?” she nodded.

“I needed to know who your enemies were. Who I should be prepared for. I have mine own to worry about too.”

“But being prepared and actually living through it are two very different things.” she nodded, watching him round the bed slowly. He took off his shoes and climbed in next to her, leaning over her shoulder to look down at Louisa.

“Did you doubt you were her father?” Sara asked after a time.

“No, everything lined up, timeline wise. Plus, as Lewis pointed out several times, she looks like my mother.”

“Oh yeah?” she questioned looking over at him. “And here I thought she looked like you.”

Leonard smirked. “I take after my mother as well.” he told her.

Sara hummed, leaning into him. He gladly accepted her weight, wrapping his arm around her. Eventually, Sara turned over, laying Louisa on the bed between them. They laid down on either side of her.

“Are you going to be here in the morning?” Sara asked, slowly drifting off to sleep.

“I promise.”

xXx

 _“I see we’re a morning person.”_ His voice was soft, a little tinny over the baby monitor. Louisa’s little giggle followed. _“If you're anything like your Aunt Lisa, you’ll grow out of that.”_

Sara smiled, nestling down into her pillow.

_“Now, I think we should let mama sleep for a little while longer, so in the meantime we should have a little talk about your fashion sense.”_

Sara snorted.

 _“I’m willing to concede the doll. You love it and I’m not going insist you give it up. That would be rude and a little mean. But this other stuff with the flash symbols, the little tutus and onsies and booties, they gotta go baby girl. Now wouldn’t you just prefer one of these. Look, little snowflakes and snowmen.”_ He gasped playfully. _“And is that a tiny parka? It is. See, now aren’t these better?”_

Louisa giggled and gurgled and Sara could just imagine how they looked at that moment. She wouldn’t have to imagine it for long though. Not long after, Leonard reappeared. He was in his jeans, shirtless (something she never thought she would see with something so innocent, given all the layers he tended to wear) and carrying Louisa, now dressed in snowman footie pajamas. She was still carrying her little flash doll.

She turned onto her side as they approached the bed and smiled as he climbed in laying Louisa down between them. Sara leaned over and kissed her chubby little cheek, earning herself a giggle.

“No nightmares last night.” She said. “That’s good.”

Leonard hummed. “Let’s hope it stays that way.” His voice was a little tight and Sara looked up at him. He was propped up on one arm, looking down at them.

“It’s not your fault you know.” Sara told him. “I should have told you sooner. I should have been more careful. I could sense something was wrong but I was too distracted.”

“I’ll make you a deal.” Leonard replied. “I’ll stop blaming myself, you stop blaming yourself and we’ll blame the man who actually tried to hurt her instead.”

Sara sighed, simply nodding.

“Good.” Silence fell between them as they watched Louisa squirm around trying to grab her feet but not stopping kicking them long enough to do so. “So when you said you found Bludhaven nauseating...”

“Morning sickness.” She finished. “I’d taken my time getting there and by the time I made it the morning sickness kicked in.”  

“And am I to assume everyone knew I was her father before I did?” He asked. He didn’t sound angry, but Sara also knew Captain Cold wasn’t his name just because his weapon of choice was a cold gun.

“It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t really want to tell anyone but my sister, but then my dad was having trouble processing and he asked if I knew who her father was in front of all of team Arrow and... I just really didn’t want him to think I was still that immature little girl I was when I got on the Gambit, ya know. So I told him.”

“And how did everyone take it?” He asked.

“After they got over the initial shock everyone seemed alright. I mean, I didn’t know who you were that night and even if I did I have no room to judge given my own history. And they understand that. Even Barry admitted I could have done worse.”

Leonard grimaced. He wasn’t sure he was too thrilled with an endorsement from the Flash but he supposed Barry could have warned her off of him all together. Instead they all seemed to embrace it, if the state of her closet was anything to go by. Half Flash (undoubtedly to fuck with him) and the rest snow themed. He’d never admit it out loud but he was actually kind of excited to see her in the little parka.

And then the joy started to slip away. “What do you want from me?” He asked. It wasn't an accusation. Sara knew exactly what he was asking.

She looked up at him. “I don’t expect you to give up being a crook and go straight, or pay child support, or whatever else people do in a situation like this. But if you want to be in her life you have to be here. You can’t just come and go as you please. If you leave for a job I expect you to come back to her. If you want to be her father, you need to _be_ her father.” She took a deep breath looking down at Louisa again. She was calming down, looking back and forth between them, trying to figure out why they weren’t having fun like she was. “If you stay and you think there’s any chance that in a week, a month, a year, you’ll decide this isn’t for you, then don’t bother now. My only priority is her and I won’t let anyone or anything hurt her. I will not let her get attached to someone who won’t be sticking around.”

“And if I stick around, could I stick around for both of you?”

Sara looked up at him, her eyes tracing the lines of his face. “I’d like that.”


	4. Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard learns a few things about his daughter mother, and settles in for the long haul.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part IV

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

“Sara?” Leonard called out behind her. She was currently standing at the sink washing the dishes after Leonard made breakfast. 

“Yeah?”

“Why does Barry have a key to your house?” 

Sara stopped, turning to look over her shoulder. Barry stood in the archway between the kitchen and the hallway to the garage entrance. He smiled and waved awkwardly. Sara thought it spoke volumes about how much she trusted Leonard that she had allowed herself to space out, especially after the night before. 

“Just to annoy you.” Sara replied with a smirk. Leonard scowled, taking a sip of his coffee. Lou sat in her high chair next to him, pushing around her stuffed flash toy which had yet to grow on him. “What’s up Barry?” Sara asked, finishing the dishes and drying her hands. She moved toward the coffee pot and fixed him a cup. 

“I thought you’d both want an update on Lewis.” Barry explained, taking a seat with his coffee. He seemed, much to Sara’s delight, to be enjoying Leonard’s annoyance. “He’s not talking. He’s either trying not to implicate himself in Lou’s kidnapping or he’s planning a different pay back, but you would know better than I would.” Leonard nodded once and Barry figured that was better than being ignored. “In the meantime, the warehouse he was hold up in was full of evidence, so even if we can’t nail him for the kidnapping without implicating you in his dismemberment he’s at least going away for the robbery he was planning.” 

“He won’t get much time for that, repeat offender or not.” Leonard finally spoke up. “We’ll have to keep up to date on his case.” 

Sara agreed silently. “If he wants to keep his other arm, he’ll keep his distance, but then again, he doesn’t come off as a very intelligent man.” she added. The amused sparkle in Leonard’s eye told her he not only agreed but approved of her observation. 

“Well, one way or another, unless he escapes, you won’t have to worry about him for a few years at least.” Barry added. “Especially if we can get him on the kidnapping. Joe said he’d stop by later to get a statement from both of you.” he smirked at Leonard. “You don’t have any open warrants out, so you can actually make your own statement.” 

Sara snorted at the glare he shot Barry. “No warrants? Falling down on the job Len or are you just that good?” 

“What do you think?” he asked. 

“I think you just barely got away without being collared on your last job and you’ve been lying low.” 

Leonard froze, squinting at her like he was seeing her for the first time. 

“Wait?” Barry spoke up looking between them. “Is she right?” he sounded far too amused for Leonard’s taste, but unfortunately, no glare could dampen that. 

“How could you possibly know that?” he asked. 

She smirked at him. “I have my sources.” 

“And on that note, I better go or I’m going to be late for work.” Barry interrupted, standing and dropping his mug in the sink. 

“How exactly is the fastest man alive late for anything?” Leonard asked. 

Barry huffed a laugh. “I, uh… I’ve been trying not to rely too much on just my speed lately. Too much going on that makes it unreliable. Sara’s been training all of us in hand to hand to help out.” Barry paused. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but you’re actually the least of my concerns right now.” 

“Well that hurts my feelings.” 

Sara shot him a look that told him not to take that as a challenge and stood to see Barry out. 

“Thanks for stopping by.” she told him. “How’s Wally and Jesse by the way?” was the last thing he heard as they stepped into the hallway. 

Leonard turned to look at Louisa when they were gone. “Was it just me or did that seem a little ominous?” 

She giggled.

Leonard smiled at her.  

xXx

“Maybe it’s just me, but he doesn’t seem to be taking this whole thing badly.” Barry said as they stepped into the garage. 

“He’s not. I mean he’s pissed he had to find out from his father of all people, but he’s more angry with Lewis than anything else.” Sara replied. “He’s amazing with Lou.” she continued. “It’s like he’s been here the entire time.” 

“Huh, well, he did raise his sister. Makes sense he’d be good with kids.” Barry added. “Have you guys had a chance to talk?”

“You’ll have to be more specific, there’s just so much to discuss.” she huffed. 

“Anything really. I mean, most of what you have to discuss isn’t something you just bring up in everyday conversation.” 

“Oh you mean I can’t just work that I was dead for a year into a conversation. Or that I have an uncontrollable urge to kill?” 

“I mean he seems like the kind of guy who just rips the band-aid off, so maybe you can.” 

Sara laughed. “We’ll see. At some point he’s going to have to leave to talk to his sister and partner, maybe even the rest of his crew.” 

“I can’t imagine that’s going to be a fun conversation.” 

“Probably not. Anyway, I think the main thing for now is to tell him about your Earth 2 problem. It won’t due to have him in the dark about Zoom or anyone else.” 

“Agreed. And if you need anything you know how to get a hold of us.” 

“Thank you.” 

xXx

“I’ve managed to hold my sister off for a little while longer.” Leonard said as she took a seat next to him on the sofa, setting the baby monitor aside. With Louisa down for her nap, now was probably going to be the best time to talk before they put her down for bed later that night. 

“How did you manage that?” 

“I told her the truth, that we haven’t actually had the chance to talk yet.” he explained. 

“I suppose we should do that then.” she replied. “What do you want to know?” 

“Start from the beginning. The night we met you were having trouble with something.”

She sighed. “That’s only the beginning of us.” she said. 

“Then you start where you think you should.” 

Sara pauses for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “Quick and dirty.” she muttered. “A lot happened after the Gambit went down, but it all ended with me getting picked up by The League of Assassins.” she explained. “They took me back to Nanda Parbat and I spent five years there. And then one day I woke up and I didn’t recognize myself anymore. I escaped and went back to Star City, but I didn’t want my family to know  _ that  _ me so I took on the persona of The Canary, which was my league name, and helped The Arrow fight.” she hesitated. “I fought to be better, but I ended up giving up in the end. I went back to the league and a few months later Ra’s sent me back to Star City to track down a former member of the League who also escaped decades before. He saw me coming though, and the next thing I know I’m falling from a roof with three arrows in my chest.”

“Wait, what?” Leonard asked when she stopped. “How did you survive that?”

“I didn’t.” she replied and he looked skeptical. “I died that night and they buried me in the empty grave they’d set up after the Gambit went down.” she took a deep breath, pushing away the dark memories that were starting to trickle in. the last year being pregnant and taking care of Louisa had distracted her enough to put aside her nightmares for the most part and the bloodlust had been mostly silent, though the few times it had welled up she had been able to subdue it with a spar with Olie or an intensive work out. 

“How can you be here if you died?” Leonard asked and Sara resisted the urge to laugh. Leonard Snart was a very logical person. The intricacies of mysticism and ancient power weren’t really in his lexicon and now she was trying to explain to him what brought them together in the first place and it didn’t fit into his logical world view. 

“In the year after I died, my sister had taken my place as the canary, only she calls herself the Black Canary and she used it as a way to channel her rage. But, The Arrow eventually let slip that the League had an ancient well known as the Lazarus pit. The acting Ra’s Al Ghul uses the pits waters to prolong his life, kind of like a fountain of youth but a whole lot darker. Malcolm Merlyn, the man who murdered me, had taken over as the new Ra’s Al Ghul after The Arrow defeated the last one, the one who had trained me, and his daughter guilted him into letting my sister use the pit to resurrect me.” 

“So when you said you were out of touch for a year… when you suggested that you were in a foreign prison...” 

“I was dead.” Sara finished. “When we met I had only been back for about three weeks. And the prison is what I assume was hell. I don’t really remember and I don’t think I can get into that right now.” she continued. “The point is, when they brought me back, there was… is something else inside me. We call it a bloodlust, this uncontrollable urge to kill when the adrenaline gets going in a fight. It’s why I did so much damage to those college kids. Why I looked so…”

“Feral?” 

Sara nodded. “Why I looked so feral when you came out of the bar.” 

Leonard had a pretty impressive poker face, she’d give him that, but for a split second she saw his eyes cut toward the stairs and she felt a rush of affection at his concern for their little girl. 

“I was traveling in some attempt to find a way to control the Bloodlust, and that’s why I was in Central. My sister recommended introducing myself to Barry and his team, and I ended up staying at Star Labs while I was in town.”

Leonard snorted. “You were staying at the one place the police wouldn’t look for you and still came back to my safehouse with me?” 

Sara smirked. “I was intrigued.” she simply told him. He snorted, shaking his head. 

“And what about now? Do you still feel the bloodlust?” 

“I cut off your father’s arm.” she deadpanned. “If Cisco, Ray and Barry hadn’t been keeping up a stream of commentary in the comms I probably would have killed his men and him.” she sighed. “I don’t have as many episodes anymore, but I think that’s mostly because I stay out of intense situations for the most part. I only go on patrol if Barry needs help and if I feel the bloodlust coming on I just take Lou to Star Labs for whoseever there to babysit while I go for a run or a work out in the training room.” 

“And what if it comes on faster than you can get there?” he asked.

“That hasn’t happened yet, and I honestly don’t know what I would do if it did. But I’ve never hurt a child in any of my rampages, so I don’t think Lou would be in danger. From me at least.” 

Leonard sighed. “That’s a lot to take in.” he finally said, sinking back into the couch. “Anything else you think I should know?” 

“Unfortunately.” she replied and he looked at her wearily. “Last October, Barry and his team discovered that there were alternate earths existing outside our own. On Earth 2, there’s a speedster known as Zoom and he’s laid the city under siege. They don’t particularly like meta humans over there and he’s used that to control the metas, built an army to fight for him. When the portal opened up between worlds he came over disguised as an ally and then manipulated Barry and his team. Now he’s sending his metas back and forth between the earths to attack Barry and wear him down, psychologically. At one point he even managed to steal Barry’s speed leaving him normal again. Having a couple of major losses like that humbled him a bit, but now Zoom has gone silent and the tension is ramping up while they wait for him to make a move.”

“I go away for a few months and the whole city falls apart.” he grumbled. “Are you helping them with this?” 

“As much as I can. Last week when I disappeared on you in that alley, it turned out that Meta attack was one of Zooms people. I’d spent the whole last week helping Team Flash track him down. That’s why Lewis was able to get close to Lou. She had been staying at my mother’s and my mother isn’t trained like me or my sister.” 

Leonard didn’t reply, but she could see the wheel turning in his head. He was making plans and Sara was hesitant to interrupt. If Leonard was going to come up with a plan that would keep Louisa safe while the city was in chaos, she was more than happy to let him. 

xXx

“It’s about time.” Lisa complained as Leonard stepped into the safe house she and Mick had hold up in. 

“Been a little preoccupied.” he told her, distracted. 

“Obviously.” Mick muttered. 

“How is she? Louisa I mean?” Lisa asked. 

“She’s alright, no nightmares and she didn’t seem upset this morning.” Leonard replied, removing his jacket and draping it over the back of the couch. He took a seat, leaning back exhausted. 

Lisa smirked as she watched him. “Only one night as a father so far and your already tired. I think Captain Cold has met his match.” Mick snorted. 

Leonard glared half heartedly at them. “It’s a little more complicated than that?” 

“How, she’s your daughter, you take care of her, exhaustion is just part of it now.” Lisa replied a little forcefully.  

Leonard looked over at her incredulous. “Down killer.” 

Lisa deflated. “Sorry, I’m a little high strung today.” 

“I see that. Don’t worry. Sara and I have talked, I’m sticking around.” Lisa looked placated. “The complicated part is everything I’ve learned in the last twenty four hours. Finding out I have a daughter turned out to the easiest part.” 

“What’s going on?” Mick asked. 

“You remember how Shawna commented on all the strange things going on around the city. All the extra metahumans?” they nodded. “Turns out Flash is fighting against an army of metas lead by and evil speedster from an alternate earth.” 

“Sounds like a good time to cut our losses and get the hell out of the city.” Mick suggested. Leonard didn’t respond, looking away from them and Mick, having spent the last thirty years with Leonard by his side, knew exactly what that meant. “Oh no, no no no. I ain’t a damn hero, Snart. I ain’t fighting an evil speedster. The good one’s bad enough.” 

“I didn’t ask you too.” Leonard replied. 

“No, but you're planning on fightin’ back and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you go in there on your own.” 

“I’m not asking you to watch my back this time.” 

“Fuck you, when have I ever not?” Mick fumed. 

“Mick’s right Lenny, you can’t fight a guy like this. You only managed to beat the Flash because you found a way to blackmail him. But if you had to fight him every time you pulled a job, I don’t think you’d beat him every time.” 

“Thank you for the vote of confidence Lisa. It’s so nice to know I have the support of my family in my hour of need.” 

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Stop being a drama queen and think about this logically. With your fancy gun, you’re going to join forces with the Flash and fight off an army of dangerous meta humans.”

“I am thinking about this logically. I’m thinking about the fact that Sara isn’t going to leave the city, which means Louisa isn’t leaving the city.”

“So what your going to become a hero?” Lisa asked. “You’re suddenly going to give up being a thief, go straight, get a real job, if you can even find one that will hire a former felon, and what? Live the white picket lifestyle?” 

“What if I am? What are you going to do about it?” he asked, standing from the sofa and grabbing his coat. 

“Are you kidding me? Lenny, you’ve been a father for twenty four hours, you can’t possibly have thought this through that quickly, not with everything that’s happened!” Lisa exclaimed. “Is this what you want or what her mother has demanded?” 

“Sara hasn’t asked me for anything. In fact she made it very clear she doesn’t expect me to give up my lifestyle.” he put his coat on. “It’s my decision and I’ll do as I see fit.” he continued turning for the door. Before either of them could reply he was gone. 


	5. Part V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoom makes an appearance, and Leonard isn't impressed

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part V

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

“Is this going to be a thing now?” Leonard asked as he stopped in the doorway to the living room. Barry and Joe were on one sofa, while Sara sat across from the them. Barry had Lou in his lap and she seemed to be enjoying the funny faces he was making at her. The little girl perked up at the sound of Leonard’s voice though, gurgling and reaching for him. “Just gonna pop in everyday?” 

Sara grinned at him as Barry handed Louisa over. She latched on to him immediately, much to Barry and Joe’s own amusement. 

“I guess that depends on whether or not your sister is going to call and yell at me everyday.” Barry replied. Leonard looked confused. “Something about me... ruining you?” 

Leonard rolled his eyes. “She pissed me off, so I said something to piss her off.” he replied when he caught Sara looking up at him questioningly. She ‘ohed’ and turned back to Joe. 

“Anyway, so that’s pretty much it.” she said. 

“Alright, I’ll send you a copy of the report before I file it.” Joe told her before standing. “Anything you want me to add to the report?” he asked Leonard. 

“No, I’m sure Sara handled it.” 

Joe nodded. “Alright then, we’re done here.” he told Barry who stood as well. He then turned to Sara. “We’ll see you soon I’m sure.” 

Sara simply smiled and nodded, leading them toward the door. Leonard took a seat while she was gone, setting Lou in his lap and giving her her binky. She accepted it, sucking on it as she pulled at the zipper of his parka. Leonard slipped it off carefully, and laid it out behind her, smiling softly as she played with the fur trim of his hood, pulling the whole thing around her. 

After a moment he realized he was being watched and looked up to find Sara leaning in the doorway. She had a serene look on her face, watching Lou twist and tug at the heavy coat. 

“So,” she eventually spoke up, sliding into the seat beside him. “What happened with Lisa? It must have been pretty bad if she called to yell at Barry. Well, she yelled at Cisco who relayed the message to Barry.” Leonard sighed. “She’s not upset about Lou is she?” 

“No,” Leonard replied immediately. “She was pretty relieved when I told her I was sticking around. Right up until I told her about Zoom and his army.” he explained. “She and Mick want me to run with them, but I’m not leaving. Not without either of you.” before she could answer he continued; “I also may have alluded to the idea that I might be willing to help out with the situation and she took that to mean I was giving up being a thief for a suburban life.” 

Sara snorted. “Good luck with that.” she replied. “I don’t think either of us could do that, honestly. It’s not like we’re employable.” 

“Funny, Lisa said the same thing.” he smirked. She chuckled. 

“We could leave, ya know. Go somewhere else until this all blows over.” she suggested. 

“Do you want to leave?” 

“Not really, but it doesn’t matter what I want. Only that Lou is safe.” 

“It does matter what you want, Sara. Why don’t you want to leave? Do you want to fight?” 

“It’s not about protecting the city.” she explained. “I’ve never… I haven’t had a home in a very long time, and this is home now. I just… I want to stay in my own house, and raise my daughter to have as normal a life as I can manage. I want it all to turn out better for her than it did for me and… I just don’t think it’s fair that we should be forced to leave. He’s the intruder, this is our world not his. Why should we uproot our lives because of him?” 

Leonard understood, he understood that all too well. Growing up with a father like Lewis he had several moments of rage, thinking about how unfair it was that he and Lisa had to plan their lives around his moods, his binges, his jobs, or his stints in prison. They were just trying to live their lives, they didn’t ask for a father like him, and they didn’t ask to be prisoners in their own home.

“Okay, we’ll stay.” he finally replied. 

Sara deflated, leaning over against him. She reached over and ran her hands through Louisa’s soft, curly hair and smiled when she looked up at her. “It still amazes me how much she looks like you.” Sara said, ready for a conversation between them that was a lot less dark. The last few hours had been intense. She’d shared a lot, none of them good, and she just wanted a moment to appreciate her family. 

“Yeah?” 

She hummed. “A friend of mine hacked into the Central City Hospital’s records and found a picture of you taken right after you were born. If I hadn’t of seen the date on the picture I would have thought it was her.” she explained. 

Leonard smiled softly. It was hard to imagine something so perfect coming from him. She was beautiful and from the moment he laid eyes on her he knew there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her. Regardless of what he intended to do with his life after Zoom was defeated, he knew, unequivocally, that Louisa would always come first. And if that meant giving up his lifestyle, finding a real job, he would do it. He wouldn’t particularly like it that much, but he would do it nonetheless. Because while Sara was determined to keep her safe and keep their home together for Lou’s sake, he was determined to be the father his was incapable of being. 

xXx

Leonard would know that sound anywhere, the whipping buzz of a speedster vibrating too quickly to be seen properly. Barry used to do that when he’d first started out, either changing his voice so no one he knew could identify him, or trying to freak his opponents out. Leonard was loath to admit it kind of worked.

There was no reason Barry should be in his house at three in the morning, doing that, though. None whatsoever. And he especially wouldn’t be doing it in Louisa’s room. 

Leonard propped himself up on his arm, staring at the baby monitor on Sara’s nightstand. He could just make out the outline in the dark, the steady red light telling him it was on. Beside him Sara was lying with her back to him, the expanse of scarred skin completely bare after their night in a few hours before. Gently he laid a hand on her shoulder, nudging at it until she began to stir. 

She groaned, turning over and cuddling into his chest. “Let’s save the next round for the shower or something.” she mumbled and normally he’d have a witty retort for that, but something wasn’t right.

“Sara get up, someone’s in Lou’s room.” he whispered and the effect was immediate. Like a shock to the system she was alert and listening, hearing what he had heard over the monitor. 

“That’s sounds like Barry.” she replied, getting up and quickly dressing. He had no idea where she pulled the weapons from, but by the time he was dressed and had his cold gun, she had her bow staff separated and extended. 

“I don’t think it’s Barry.” he replied, leading the way to the door. 

Silently they stepped into the hall, inching down the corridor to Louisa’s room. Her door was cracked opened, not at all how they’d left it, and they positioned themselves on either side, bracing themselves before Sara pushed it open. 

The tall dark figure standing by her crib was a thing of nightmares. His suit was like the flashes but a pitch black, the mouth sewn together like some slasher flick mask. He ignored them, reaching a hand into the crib and Sara reacted, charging him and landing a few hits; enough to knock him back into the rocking chair under the window. It broke under his weight, and as he balanced himself he looked at her with surprise. Whatever he was doing here, he hadn’t expected either of them to be able to put up of a fight. 

Sara readied to attack again, but this time he saw her coming, using his speed to pin her against the adjacent wall. He lifted a vibrating hand toward her chest. 

Leonard knew what happened to Barry’s mom. He’d heard all about the original evil speedster who killed his mother and framed his father for it. It was Barry’s driving force in life to prove he wasn’t crazy that he had seen two men in flashes of lightning running around his house that night. So Leonard was fully aware of what Zoom, he could only assume this was Zoom, was intending to do. 

He reacted then, lifting his gun and firing at him, laying a bolt of ice from his hip to his shoulder. Zoom’s agonizing scream was haunting, the distorted watery cry sending a shot of fear and adrenaline through his system. 

“Snart!” Zoom turned black angry eyes on him and Leonard prepared to fire again, only for Zoom to speed passed and out of the room. 

“Sara?” Leonard called as he ran to the crib, Louisa’s cries suddenly registering. 

“I’m fine.” her voice was hoarse and she coughed a few times after speaking but she was on her feet a moment later, making her way over to check on them. Leonard had Louisa clutched against him, bouncing her lightly as he tried to sooth her screams. He wrapped his other arm around Sara as she got closer, pulling her against them and holding on like they might disappear at any moment. 

xXx

Leonard wasn’t sure he’d ever been in Star Labs for any other reason than to rob it. Under different circumstances he might appreciate the irony a little more. Currently though, he was too busy focusing on Sara, who was gently rocking Louisa in her arms, her cries finally having calmed, while simultaneously trying to drown out the argument currently raging between the geek bar. 

“Enough!” Leonard eventually cut them off with a steady, but no less threatening word. “All I want to know is how he knows me and why he came after us tonight.”

“Wait, hold on, how do you know he knows you?” Joe asked. 

“When Leonard shot him he acknowledged him by name,” Sara began. “And it was pretty obvious by his tone that this wasn’t the first time Leonard had pissed him off.” 

They all turned to look at him and Leonard rolled his eyes. “I’ve never met him before tonight.” 

“Well, what about him?” Cisco asked, pulling up a photo on the monitor. Leonard to a long look and shook his head. 

“Never seen him before, either. Is that Zoom under the mask?” 

“Yeah, Hunter Zolomon.”  

“Well I don’t know him.” Leonard replied. 

“So how does he know you then?” Sara asked, moving to stand beside him. “You’ve only been back in the city for three weeks right?” 

He nodded. “Just about.” 

“Do we know if Zoom left the city?” Wally asked. 

“I don’t think so. His obsession is with the city he tormented before he’d been caught years ago.” Caitlin explained. 

“What did he do before he was Zoom?” Leonard asked. 

“He was a serial killer.” 

Sara hummed. “I can see that.” she replied. 

“Really?” Cisco asked surprised. “Just by looking at him? He seems kind of nerdy for a serial killer.”  

She shrugged. “The Beltway Strangler looked nerdy too.” 

Joe shared a confused look with Barry. “They never caught the Beltway Strangler. He just went underground.” 

“Yeah, about six feet.” 

Almost everyone, except Leonard looked like they were about to start talking over each other, questions burning their tongues, but thankfully the elevator opened to Harrison and Jesse Wells, drawing their attentions. It did not however, stop Leonard from giving her a speaking look. She smirked, turning her attention to the usually stoic scientist. 

“I heard what happened, are you three alright?” he asked. 

“We’re fine.” Sara replied. 

“Pissed, but fine.” 

“We’re trying to figure out why Zoom would go after them.” Iris explained.

Jesse glared at her father. “You have to tell them.” she said, brokering no argument. 

“Tell us what?” 

Harry sighed, removing his glasses and massaging the bridge of his nose. When he finally looked up he at least had the decency to look apologetic. 

“Zoom came after you because of your Earth 2 Doppelgangers.” he explained. 

“What do they have to do with Zoom?” Sara asked. 

“Well they’re only the largest force for hope in the city, even greater than that fake hero Zoom pretended to be.” Harry explained. “As the Mayor of Central City, your doppelganger has been a proponent of Meta Human rights since the first one was outed. And it’s not only a personal belief that they shouldn’t be treated poorly for something that was essentially done to them, but strategically it’s a good stance. Most of the metas who sided with Zoom did so because of the way they were treated by non metas.” 

“No offense but the anger in his voice is a lot more than just a politician trying to convert his target audience.” Sara replied. 

“No, you’re right, there’s definitely more than that.” Harry continued. “Mayor Snart is known for being cold and calculating. In fact he almost the election because he wasn’t very personable, but that calculating manner has come in handy facing down Zoom. He refuses to bow down, he’s backed every measure to deal with him, and the few times they’ve come face to face it’s glaringly obvious he isn’t intimidated by him. Every attempt of Zoom’s to get rid of him has failed because Snart is always a step ahead of him.”

“So what? He can’t get to his own Leonard Snart so he comes after us?” Sara asked. 

“Or he intended to take Louisa and use her against his enemy.” Leonard suggested, the horrifying sight of that monster reaching for her playing through his mind.

Harry nodded. 

“Why would that work?” Barry asked. 

Harry took a deep breath letting it out slowly. “Snart won the election on various factors. He was qualified, a majority of people agreed with his ideas for the city and, they finally got to see a side of him he’d never shown the public before.” Harry explained. “There was a fundraiser, a gallery showing for a private organization that assists batter spouses and children. He was there to support it and he was introduced to the artist, Sara Lance, whose pieces were on display and according to papers the next morning it was love at first sight. They were married in the second year of his first term.

Zoom appeared three years later, and Snart didn’t hesitate to speak out against him. Out of revenge he sent his metas to attack his wife’s gallery. She survived, but she was five months pregnant and they lost the baby.” 

There was a moment of silence as he finished. Leonard leaned a little closer to Sara, while she held Louisa a little tighter. 

“So what now?” Joe asked. 

“Now we take the fight to him.” Leonard spoke up. “I’m not letting him get that close again.”          


	6. Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking the fight to Zoom isn't as easy to do as it was to say, but Leonard and Sara are determined and their Earth 2 counterparts are right behind them.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part VI

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

Sara was fidgeting, a bad habit for any assassin to have. With Louisa in the hospital bassinet Caitlin had found in storage, hopefully sleeping for the rest of the night, she dug through the baby bag, counting everything over and over again. 

“Sara.” Iris called softly beside her. “You’re stressing out. You’ve given us everything we need, I promise, Lou is going to be alright. I won’t let anything happen to her while you’re gone.”

Sara took a deep breath and smiled at her friend. “I know, I know you’ll protect her.” she replied. Iris pulled her into a hug, holding on tight. When they pulled away she smiled at her. 

“You worry about stopping Zoom once and for all, and then you won’t have to worry about protecting her from him” 

“Ready?” Harry called out before she could reply. Sara turned to look at him, nodding to Leonard who had been watching her. With that she moved to Louisa’s side, gently laying a kiss on her temple, careful not to wake her. When she stepped back, Leonard was there and he did the same, before they made their way, together, to the group preparing to leave at the gate. 

“Alright, once we’re through we head straight for Star Labs.” Harry explained. “We’ll find everything we need there.” 

xXx

“Does it always look like this?” Sara asked, looking around as they made their way toward the building. 

“No, there’s significantly more damage to the city than there was the last time I was here.” Harry explained, using his access code to get through the front door. There were officers in body armor on the other side, and every single one of them clocked Sara and Leonard as they stepped in. 

“It’s a long story.” Harry cut one of them off before he could ask. “What happened here? Everything looks so much worse than the last time I was here.” 

“Zoom showed up a few hours ago in a rage, started throwing the equivalent of a tantrum, doing as much damage as he could before disappearing again.” one of the officers replied.

“He specifically targeted the Mayor’s home, but he and his wife weren’t there.” another added. 

Sara and Leonard shared a look as Harry asked; “Are they down in the bunker?”

“Yes sir.” another answered. 

“Good, we’re headed down there.” 

Harry didn’t wait for an answer, not that any of them had one. They passed the group and weaved through the hallways, mostly ignoring the scientists who caught sight of them.

Harry’s lab was their final destination and once inside he tapped a few keys on his main computer consul and then turned to a wall panel with an inset video screen. He tapped away at the touch screen and then stepped back as the section of wall caved inward and slid out of the way, revealing an elevator. They road it down into the sub levels, approximately five by Sara’s count and were greeted by several more armed officers when the doors slid open. 

Sara wouldn’t lie, seeing herself across the room, standing tall but clearly frightened was unnerving. She’d been thinking about what Harry had told them for most of the night, and it hadn’t been all that hard to consider what her life may have been like if things had turned out for her the way they had for her counterpart. She had been an artist once too, taking leave from school to go with Oliver on his trip. 

Obviously she hadn’t gone back, and she had thought about her art on and off for years in the league. She’d even done some work in her down time to help her meditate, but everything she drew felt tainted by the blood staining her hands. She’d honed her talents to draw realistic portraits, inspired by the police artists she’d met a few times visiting her dad at work growing up, and the life in the eyes of her subjects that she prided herself on was missing in the work she’d done while in the League. 

She supposed it was some comfort, knowing that at least one version of her got to live that life. 

The other version of Leonard was a different matter. She could see it in the way he stood, the way he put himself between his wife and the elevator that he was a protector, not unlike her Leonard. He was going to fight for his family, he wouldn’t lose anyone else. His cold, penetrative stare met her own and there was a moment of surprise as that gaze flicked between them.

“Dr. Wells.” Mayor Snart greeted him, his tone giving nothing away. “What is this?” 

“This is the last stand against Zoom. They’re here,” and he gestured to the group, herself, Leonard, Barry all in full uniform, Cisco, and Caitlin. “To put an end to Zoom once and for all.” 

“And why would they want to help us?” 

“Because he’s attacked our world too.” Barry replied. “We’ve managed to stop his army, now it’s just him. And we’re ready to be done with him.”

There was a tense moment where they all waited for his response. “What did you have in mind?” he asked as they all stepped off the elevator entering what Harry had called the bunker, and that’s exactly what it looked like. A war bunker. Plans, schematics, computer screens. They were planning a battle here and there was no other options than to win. 

“We’re going to take his speed.” Barry explained. “The way he tried to take mine. His goal is to get faster, to  _ be  _ the fastest. Dr. Wells thinks he has a way to strip him of his speed, but we need to lure him into an area away from people to do it.”

“And how do you plan to lure him in? You don’t think he’ll see this coming?” Mayor Snart asked. 

“He might if  _ I  _ was going to be the bait.” Barry explained. 

“If you’re not then who?” 

“Us.” Sara spoke up. In her full Canary gear she cut a striking and intimidating figure and judging by Mayor Snart’s quick up and down, and assuming he had the same thoughts her Leonard did the first time he saw it, she was sure he and his wife would be having a conversation when all this was over. “Disguised as the two of you.” 

xXx

Leonard had worked enough jobs that required him to dress in expensive suits and the like. That didn’t make this entire situation any less weird. Borrowing the clothes of his doppelganger, pretending to be the man he could have been had things been different. 

Leonard wouldn’t lie, he had thought about what could have been over the years. What would have happened to him if he had broken free of his father’s control sooner, if he had gotten out of juvie and decided not to continue being a thief, to turn his life around, to raise his sister away from that life. Would he have been as successful as this version of himself? 

Speaking of whom, Leonard looked over his shoulder through the mirror as he adjusted his tie. He didn’t look particularly happy about any of this, not that this was anything to be happy about, but he could at least not look like he hated him. Leonard supposed he reminded him of everything he’d come from and pulled himself out of. 

“How confident are you that this will work?” 

“Assuming Zoom doesn’t see this coming, or have a surprise up his sleeve, eighty-nine percent.” Leonard replied, turning from the mirror. 

His doppelganger sighed. “Wells said you managed to hurt Zoom when he attacked you. How?” 

Leonard nodded toward his gun, strapped into its holster and sitting with his clothing. “That gun was created specifically to stop speedsters.”

“And why would you need a gun like that?” Mayor Snart asked. 

Leonard smirked. “Let’s just say Flash and I aren’t usually on the same side.” 

“There’s an understatement.” Sara’s voice sounded, drawing their attention to the door that adjoined one room to the next. Gone were her black leathers, now replaced by dark dress pants, flats and a white blouse. Her long blonde hair was twisted up into a bun at the nape of her neck. Her doppelganger looked away, trying to hide a smile. He could only assume they had had a more productive conversation. “Are we ready?” she asked. 

“That depends on the geek squad.” Leonard replied.     

xXx

“Go ahead and ask.” Sara spoke up, surprising her doppelganger, who until then was doing a hell of a job trying to find something to say. 

“There’s just so much to ask.” she replied. Sara’s smile was a little sad. She couldn’t imagine a version of herself who was normal, having to meet a version like her. To know how easy it could have been become her. “How…”

“The Gambit.” Sara replied, knowing exactly what she was asking. How does a woman with every opportunity throw it all away to become an assassin? She looked startled. “I went with Olie, without telling my family, behind Laurel’s back. When it sank I was picked up by The League of Assassins and after everything that had happened I knew I couldn’t go home, so I stayed. For six years.” Sara sighed. “And then I escaped and I went home and a whole bunch of stuff happened and then I went to Central to meet Flash and his team and while I was there I met Leonard.” 

“But why would Zoom come after you, though? Was it frustration at not being able to find us? Or was hoping to use you against us?” her doppelganger asked. 

“He didn’t come after us.” Sara replied, watching confusion play across her twins face. “He came after our daughter.” Sara watched as she tried not to crumble in on herself. The trauma of her loss was only a few months old, and it clearly hurt more than anything. “I think he knew we would come after her, validate any claim he made that she was yours and then try to use her to manipulate you and your husband into complying.” 

Sara took a seat beside her and wrapped her arm around her twin. “I know it probably doesn’t help much right now, but when Zoom is gone, you’ll have your life back and you can start over. You can try again.” 

“I know, I haven’t brought it up to Leonard, he’s so focused on stopping Zoom, so angry about everything, but when it is all over I do want that. I want us to go back to the way things were. I know it’ll never be exactly the same, but I believe we can have that life again.” 

Sara smiled reassuringly. “Then what do you say we get this done.” 

Her twin smiled back and nodded, following Sara’s lead as she stood and headed for the door to the adjacent room where the Leonards were getting ready. 

“I have a question though.” earth two Sara said. “What’s with the choker necklace. I don’t think I’ve worn one of those since the nineties.” 

Sara smirked. “Let’s just say it’s more than a fashion statement.”

xXx

“I’ve got Zoom on radar.” Cisco’s voice sounded over the comms. 

Leonard and Sara were driving down the main road out of Central City with Leonard behind the wheel. So far the drive had been uneventful, but they all knew it was only a matter of time before Zoom made his move. 

“Copy that, where?” Sara asked. 

“He’s headed down Grant Street parallel to you.” Harry replied. There was a pause and then; “He’s crossing over, get ready.” 

Getting ready, as it turned out, wasn’t much use. One minute their driving down the road the next the car is flipping side over side, eventually landing on four flat tires in an empty lot. 

“Are you both alright? What happened, the camera’s loose.” 

“He broadsided us.” Sara replied. “And we’re fine. Just be ready, I’m not going through all of this so you can miss your chance.” she coughed, listening to the chatter over the comms to ground herself. 

“Drones are in the air, we can see everything from here.” Harry said. 

“This was a bad idea, they’re not going to be able to take on Zoom.” 

“Have a little faith, Mr. Mayor.” Harry replied. 

“Sara is a highly trained assassin, and Snart’s a pain in the ass. They got this.” 

“Thanks Cisco.” Sara replied amused, as Leonard replied;

“Fuck you Ramon.” 

Leonard kicked out the driver’s side door as Sara climbed out of the shattered passenger window. Zoom was waiting for them as they righted themselves. 

“It’s been too long Snart.” Zoom said. “It was only a matter of time before you made a mistake.” with that he rushed forward, only for Sara to turn toward him and scream, releasing a piercing sonic wave that disoriented Zoom enough for Leonard to reach into the destroyed car and pull out his cold gun, firing it at him and freezing nearly half his body. 

“Oh my god, Cisco, I love this thing. So much more convenient than my Canary bombs.”

“Yes!” Cisco exclaimed over the comms. “That’s two Canary seals of approval.” 

“Focus Ramon.” Harry replied. “Flash, now’s your chance.” He continued. The crackle of electricity over the comms alerted them to his arrival and Sara and Leonard watched as Barry sped in, jamming something into the lightening bolt at the center of Zoom’s chest, which immediately started sparking as it reacted to Zoom’s own lightening. He screamed in pain, the lightning he gave off growing exponentially outward, arching and crashing. 

Leonard came around the car, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away from where she was hunkered down to avoid the sparks of lightning. They ran for the back of the car, staying low, but it wasn’t enough. The next time they looked up a bolt was heading for them and Leonard pulled Sara against him, rolling over on his knees to shield her from it. They braced for the impact, but it never came. 

“Great, nothing better than being indebted to your enemy.” Leonard muttered, looking up to find Barry standing over them. 

“I think at this point he’s more of a frenemy.” Sara replied, grinning. Leonard simply glared at her. 

The lightning was dying down, Zoom was gasping, lying on the ground. When the last bolt dissipated, Leonard helped Sara to her feet and together they walked out from behind the car keeping an eye on Zoom’s unconscious body. 

“Did it work?” Sara asked, clocking her surroundings.

“It looks like it, but let’s be careful anyway.” Barry replied, leading the way toward Zoom’s prone body. 

“Hang on!” Cisco exclaimed. “I’ve got a portal opening above you.” 

They all looked up, watching as a swirling vortex of lightening opened up over them and large phantom like creatures floated out. 

“What the hell is that?” Leonard asked. 

“The speed force, and those are wraiths. They police the speed force users.” Barry explained. “I ran into some of them when I was trying to get my speed back.” 

The wraiths floated down, their gaping mouths hideous as they surrounded Zoom’s unconscious body. What happened next, neither Leonard nor Sara thought they could repeat. The wraiths touched Zoom, grabbing him by the arms and lifting him off the ground and Zoom seemed to decay in response to their touch. His costume warped and shrunk, his mask tore as his skin became wrinkled and dehydrated. It was horrifying to watch.

“Okay, that was gross.” Sara said as they watched him be pulled into the cortex, disappearing completely as the portal sealed. 

“Lookin’ a little green there, Scarlett.” Leonard said, drawing Sara’s attention to the speedster. He did in fact look like he was going to be sick. 

“Those came after me a few weeks ago.” he replied simply. The implication was clear and Sara look on sympathetically. Leonard on the other hand smirked, ready with what Sara was certain would have been a witty dig, but she elbowed him in the side as a warning and he let it go.

xXx

Sara stopped beside her husband, taking a deep breath as he turned to look at her, his eyes looking that cold edge he was known for. He had been watching their doppelgangers since they’d returned from the field, from finally stopping Zoom once and for all. He leaned only the slightest bit closer as she wrapped her arms around his and rested her head against his shoulder. 

“She said Zoom didn’t come after them.” she told him, looking up again. He stared back confused. “She said he came after their daughter.” she felt him tense. 

“Is she alright?” he asked. 

Sara nodded. “She’s a little shaken up, but unharmed.” 

He took a discreet deep breath and let it out slowly. He pulled his arm away and moved it around her, pulling her into his side. “It’s over.” he spoke softly. “Its finally over.” 


	7. Part VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's day and Leonard has something special planned. Unfortunately the man from the future has other plans for them.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part VII

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

Sara woke alone. The baby monitor was gone from the bedside table and the bedroom door which she usually kept cracked open was fully closed. Leonard’s side of the bed was cold, telling her he’d been gone for awhile and if she laid there, absolutely still and listened she could just barely pick out the sounds of pots and pans in the kitchen. 

Sara smiled to herself, languishing in the soft comfort of her bed for a little while longer before finally getting up and getting dressed. On silent feet she made her way downstairs, following the sounds as they grew louder the closer she got to the kitchen. She stopped just in the doorway, her eyes scanning Leonard’s broad back as he leaned over Louisa’s highchair, wiping syrup from her face. She giggled up at him as he teased her, and Sara pulled out her phone. 

She’d been doing that whenever she could. Taking pictures of them when he wasn’t paying attention, focused solely on her. It was adorable really, how that cold, calculating demeanor he was known for just slipped away whenever he was with her.  

“So messy baby girl. You’re going to stick to everything.” he said. He laid a kiss on her forehead as he finished, returning to the sink. That’s when Sara noticed the plate laid out on the table. Pancakes and bacon and fresh coffee all laid out around a large bouquet of dark red roses. There was a little white bear in a blue hat and scarf sitting on the table in front of Lou but she ignored in favor of her Flash doll. 

“What’s all this?” Sara asked, finally stepping into the room. Leonard turned to look at her over his shoulder. He smirked, turning off the faucet and grabbing the dish towel, drying his hands as he turned to face her. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” he replied. 

“Why Leonard Snart, who knew you were such a romantic.” Sara said, stepping up to him where he was leaning against the sink. He smirked down at her, clearly proud of himself as she leaned up and kissed him. 

“You better hurry, it’s all getting cold.” he said when she pulled away. 

Sara took a seat at the table and poured herself a cup of coffee as Leonard took the seat across from her. “So,” she began, cutting into a stack of pancakes. “You tried to get her to give up the Flash doll?” she asked, gesturing to the doll on the edge of the table. 

Leonard scowled. “Maybe.” 

Sara laughed. “Well, it’s cute.” she said picking up the winter themed bear. “I guess they don’t make a Captain Cold doll.” she continued. 

“No, only an action figure, and she’s too young for that right now.” 

Sara looked up at him suspiciously. “Len, did you buy your own action figure?” 

“Several actually.” he told her, completely unembarrassed. “I like to send them to the criminals who claim to be Barry’s arch nemesis. Remind them which one of us has an action figure.” 

Sara tried not to laugh. “You’re adorable.” she finally replied. 

He winked at her before turning back to his breakfast. 

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Sara asked as she ate. 

“Not much. Mick brought me a potential job yesterday. I’m going to look into it.” Leonard explained. “You?” 

“I have a self defense class to teach at the gym around noon, and then two dance classes at the studio. I should be home around four.” 

“Good, what do you say we leave Lou with Caitlin tonight and go out?” he suggested. 

“You wanna go out on Valentine’s day?” she asked incredulous. 

Leonard shrugged. “I may have made reservations.” 

“Is that right?” he nodded. “Forgive me for saying but you don’t exactly strike me as the dating type.”

“What can I say, I’m full of surprises.” 

xXx

When Lisa stepped into Sara’s home she hadn’t quite expected to find what she did. For years she had watched her brother grow up surrounded by ice and darkness. He’d only spared any kindness for her growing up, though that had altered as she got older and became more capable of taking care of herself; making her own decisions and defending herself. He was an immovable force, a wall of ice if you will, a darker presence with a will to fight for himself, by himself and nothing more. 

Now, watching him lying on his stomach, his daughter sitting on a blanket, clutching her favorite toy and watching him unimpressed as he tried to convince her to give up the Flash doll for a white teddy bear, she was in total awe. 

“Come on kid, I know he’s cute, but look, this one’s fuzzy and soft.” he wiggled it in front of her, tapping her on the nose with it. She giggled and Lisa watched astonished as her supposedly cold hearted brother smiled with unadulterated affection. “No go, huh?”  she giggled again, clutching her toy and then thrusting it out toward him. “Yeah, yeah, I know. He’s got the geeky charm going on. Hard to resist.” 

“I knew you had a crush on him.” Lisa spoke up, watching him tense quickly before regaining his composure and turned to look at her over his shoulder. 

“Did you just break into Sara’s house?” he asked, turning back to Lou who was looking at Lisa with total fascination. 

“No, Sara gave me a key.” she replied, stepping over his legs and taking a seat on the floor beside them. She smiled at Lou and the little girl smiled back. “Wow, she looks just like you.” 

“So I’ve been told.” he replied. Louisa started chewing on the arm of her doll and he reached over and gently pulled it out of her mouth, replacing it with her binky. 

“When did you and Sara meet?” he asked, getting up. He sat back against the sofa. 

“Last week. I was walking around downtown and walked passed that old dance studio. You know the one that I used to go to when my mom was still around?” Leonard nodded. “Yeah, well, I saw her through the window teaching a class and stopped in to see her. We ended up having lunch.” 

“She never said anything.” he replied. 

“I asked her not to. Figured you might still be mad at me.” 

“I’m not mad. I’m well aware of my capabilities kid. I’m not daft enough think I’m ever going to be anything but a crook.”

“And a father.” she replied. “A crook and a father. And from what I’ve seen a pretty damn good one.” she looked to her niece, watching as the little girl tracked him with bright blue eyes. Lisa could see how uncomfortable he was, so she changed the subject. “Anyway, it was kind of strange to see her at the studio. I mean, not that I knew much about her to begin with, but watching her teach eight year olds ballet was pretty surreal.” 

“Yeah, well she’s just full of surprises.” Leonard said. “Guess she studied ballet right up until The Gambit. And if that wasn’t enough, she was an art major in college. She’s very talented from what I’ve seen.”  

“Kinda strange isn’t it? A highly trained assassin is a mom, an artist and a ballerina.”

“Life is like that I guess. One minute you’re a student with a bright future, the next you’re adrift in the South China Sea, getting picked up by the League of Assassins.” 

“And I thought our lives were tough.” Lisa joked halfheartedly. 

“They were.” 

Louisa was starting to fade a bit, her eyes drooping, and she yawned, losing her binky. Leonard smiled softly, hoisting himself to his feet and picking her up. “I think it’s nap time. What d’you think?” he asked her. Her response was to lay her head on his shoulder and close her eyes. 

Leonard took her upstairs and when he returned after putting her to bed, he found Lisa waiting for him on the sofa, the blanket and toys picked up. 

“So,” Lisa began as he sat next to her. “It’s Valentine’s Day, gonna take your girl out for a romantic night?” 

“Yes actually, I am.” Leonard explained. 

“Wait, really?” 

Leonard nodded. “I got reservations at Cobblepot’s new club, downtown.” 

“N2? Ooo, what did you have to do for ol’ Penguin to get those?” 

“Promise not to tell the Bat he’s letting the Falcon’s launder money through his Coast City club.” 

Lisa snorted. “All for a date with your baby mama.” 

Leonard grimaced. “Please don’t call her that. I don’t need to live up to anymore stereotypes. Between the age difference and our drunken one night stand, I think we’ve got enough covered.” 

“I didn’t think the age difference bothered you?” 

“Usually it doesn’t, but then I’ll say something Sara’s not old enough to understand or she’ll have moments where she’ll act more her age and it just kind of hits me in the face.” he explained. 

“What does she do to act more her age?” Lisa asked confused. Leonard hesitated and in that moment Lisa figured it out. “Ew, no, never mind.” she gagged, shaking her head. “So you’re going out tonight? Who's watching baby Snart?” she quickly changed the subject. 

“We asked Dr. Snow, she was pretty happy about it.” Leonard said. “Something about avoiding Cisco’s bar crawl.” 

Lisa snorted. “Can’t blame her there. The last one was kind of a disaster. Caitlin distilled an alcohol strong enough to get Barry drunk and.. well… take from that what you will.” 

Leonard smirked. “Kinda want to see that.” 

“Ya know I could babysit.” Lisa eventually said. 

“You’re welcome to stay.” he said. “I’m sure Dr. Snow won’t mind the company.” 

“Hmm,” she hummed. “A night in with Dr. Snow on Valentine’s Day? I could get behind that.” 

“A night in with Dr. Snow, babysitting your niece.” Leonard reminded her pointedly. 

Lisa smiled. “Of course.” 

xXx

“Should I be concerned that you address Oswald Cobblepot by name?” Sara asked, as they walked hand in hand down the street. It was nearly midnight as they left N2, buzzed and ready to spend the rest of the night in. 

“Probably.” he smirked, keeping his eyes ahead. 

She laughed. “What do you say we head home, pop a bottle of champagne and prepare for a late morning.” 

“Sounds great.”

They should have known better than to think it would be that easy. As they rounded the corner a few blocks from the club, a distinct voice called out behind them. 

“Mr. Snart, Miss Lance. Just who I was looking for.” they heard as they turned around. Just a few feet away stood a man in a long brown duster, one hand in his pocket. 

“Who the hell are you?” Leonard asked as they both tensed, ready for a fight should this man be looking for one. 

“Someone whose come a long way to find you both.” he replied, raising his hand. Before either of them could react there was a flash of light and then darkness.

xXx

Sara came too with a splitting headache. The chill of an early February night settling in. She really should have listened to Len and wore a coat tonight, but the dress he’d surprised her with was gorgeous and she wanted to show it off, sleeveless or not. 

A quick look around and she realized she was on a rooftop, and not alone. Laying in a row on the cold concrete, a line of people. She recognized Leonard to her left and Mick to her right. Two bodies down was Ray Palmer in his Atom Suit. 

“Ah, fuck, where are we?” Mick asked, groaning as he sat up. 

Leonard replied as he did the same. “Why don’t you ask the guy who knocked us out? British guy, flashy thing.”

“The name is Rip Hunter, and I’m from East London.” they all turned to face the direction the voice came from. “And the future.” 

“Nice to meet you Rip.” Mick replied, reaching for his heat gun. 

“Ah, I may have disabled your weapons while you were incapacitated.” he said, drawing everyone’s full attention. 

“Great.” Ray muttered, messing with the buttons on his gauntlet. One by one they all hoisted themselves to their feet, Leonard lending her a hand. When she was steady he took off his tux jacket and laid it across her shoulders. 

“What do you want?” the only other woman among them asked. 

“I’ve assembled you all here because I need your help. The future of the world is in peril because of a man named Vandal Savage.” Rip explained. 

“That’s not possible.” one of the men replied. He wore a uniform similar to that of the young woman who’d spoken before. “We destroyed him.”

“Yeah, the Green Arrow and The Flash helped us do it.” 

“Therein lies the problem. Unless you or Mr. Hall strike the fatal blow, Vandal Savage can be revived with but a single cell.” 

“What are you talking about?” Stein, she was pretty sure it was Stein she couldn’t imagine any other older men being tapped for a mission, asked. 

“Vandal Savage is immortal.” Hall explained. “Kendra and I reincarnate.” 

“Yeah, I’ve done that.” Sara muttered under her breath. She felt Leonard shift beside her and looked up at him. His eyes were like ice, scrutinizing the man before them. 

“And what does this Randall guy got to do with us?” Mick asked, his patience wearing thin. 

“Vandal. In the future, he will use the power he’s amassed over the centuries to conquer the world.” Rip explained. “I have been tasked with assembling an elite team to stop him before he can rise to power.” 

“You got the wrong guy then, English. Hero ain’t on my resume.” Mick snapped. 

“Or mine.” Leonard added. Sara remained quiet. She would follow Leonard’s lead on this one; walk away if he did. 

“I know it’s hard to believe, but where I’m from,  _ when  _ I’m from, you aren’t just heroes, you’re legends.” Sara would hand it to him, he had a way with inspirational speeches and dramatic twists. 

“I hate to nit pick here,” Stein spoke up. “But don’t you have to die to be a legend.” 

Sara huffed. “Yeah. Been there, done that. I’m not going back anytime soon.” she felt Leonard’s hand brush her own.

“Yeah, that’s a deal breaker, I’m going to have to pass.” the youngest of them spoke up. If she remembered Caitlin’s stories correctly, this was Jax, Stein’s partner. 

“It's dangerous for any of you to know too much about your own futures, but I am here because each of you, as individuals, is destined for greatness.” 

“I could get behind that.” Ray muttered. 

“And, because if you don’t follow me, this is what’s in store for your world one hundred and fifty years from now.” 

They all stood in shock and awe as a scene began playing out in the sky above them. The world on fire, cities burning, soldiers slaughtering innocent people. It brought up on too many bad memories if she were honest. 

Rip turned to them again when the picture faded. “I could have chosen any time and any place. Of all the people who ever lived, I chose you eight. I certainly hope that you won't let me, and the world, down.” he handed Stein a small card. “If your answer is yes, meet me at this address in 36 hours.” 

xXx

“You can  _ not  _ be taking his offer seriously.” Sara said as she burst through the front door, startling the women making out on the sofa. She stopped short, looking back and forth between Caitlin, who was doing her best to sink into the couch and disappear, and Lisa who looked annoyed at having been interrupted. 

Leonard stepped in behind her, drawing her attention away from them. “All I said was it was an interesting offer. How many times have you been given the opportunity to time travel?” 

Sara huffed, looking up at him incredulously. “Other than tonight, none, and I would have been more than happy to keep it that way.” she shook her head. “We are not heroes Len. You rob banks, I used to kill people for a living.” 

She turned on her heels, heading for the stairs. 

“Sara.” he called after her. When she didn’t stop he followed her up the stairs. He stopped himself from saying anything when he rounded the corner to find her peeking into the nursery. 

“She’s fine.” she whispered, closing the door and walking down the hall, entering the master bedroom. 

“Are we going to talk about this?” he asked, watching her hang up his jacket. He loosened his bow tie, tossing it onto the dresser. 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” she replied, unzipping her dress down the side and stepping out of it. It was definitely not how he expected her to come out of it tonight. She took off her shoes next tossing them into the closet haphazardly. 

“There’s plenty to talk about, Sara.” he replied following her into the bathroom. He undid his cuffs as he walked, starting to unbutton his shirt as he leaned in the doorway. She stood in front of the vanity mirror, pulling the pins out of her hair. “You can’t honestly think we can just turn a blind eye to this?” 

“Why not?” she asked turning on him. “It’s a hundred and fifty years in the future. You and I won’t even be around then. Hell, Lou won’t even be around then.” 

“Maybe not, but her children will be and her grandchildren. Our descendants, Sara.” he replied. “Can you really look me in the eye and tell me you don’t care what kind of world they live in.” 

Sara glared at him, turning back to the sink to avoid answering. She leaned over the sink and started washing the makeup off her face. She snatched the towel off the rack when she was done, drying her face. 

“Sara.” Leonard’s voice was gentle as he stepped forward, laying his hands on her shoulders. Gently he turned her to face him. Gone was the anger, replaced by a deep exhaustion. “I’m not saying we have to go, I’m just saying we should talk about it, seriously. This isn’t a mission to help Barry or Queen. This is so much bigger and it’s not something you can just brush aside.” 

She sighed. “What about Lou? If we go what are we going to do with her?” 

“Between your mother, my sister and pretty much every hero or vigilante in two cities, she’ll be just fine.” he told her. “Also, considering that this is a mission involving time travel, I can’t imagine this Rip Hunter can’t drop us off minutes after we’ve left. She wouldn’t even know we were gone.” 

Sara sighed again, pulling away. He watched as she pulled the last of the pins from her hair and shook it loose. “I’ll make you a deal.” she finally replied. “You convince Mick to go and I’ll go too.” 

Leonard smirked. “I thought we already established that I don’t back down from challenges, assassin.” 

Sara stuck her hand out to him. “Than may the best criminal win.” 

Leonard accepted her hand, tugging her forward until she was standing against him. “I think I can come up with a much more enjoyable way to seal the deal.” 

She laughed as he leaned down, meeting him halfway.

xXx

“Why is Blondie glaring at me?” Mick asked, leaning over so only Leonard could hear him. Leonard peeked at Sara standing just behind them. Standing obstinate, arms crossed, she was glaring at the back of Mick’s head. 

“The only way she would agree to come is if I could convince you to come along too?” 

Mick snorted. “I can’t even be mad about it, that’s too good.” he said. “You’d think people would learn not to underestimate you.” 

Leonard smirked. “I’ll make it up to you.” he told him. “I got that job you brought me all planned out. We’ll pull it as soon as we get back.” 

“Blondie won’t mind?” 

“As long as I come home, and don’t put Lou in danger, she doesn’t care what I do.” 

“Lucky bastard.” Mick muttered, turning with the rest of the group as Stein drove up. 

“Well that doesn’t seem sketchy at all.” Sara muttered when she caught sight of Jax in the front seat. Leonard hummed in agreement. 

Not long after, Rip showed up revealing, to their amazement, his ship. He called it the Waverider and Leonard had to admit he was impressed. He looked to Sara as the group moved to board, and side by side they started up the ramp. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to write a short chapter of what happened between Lisa and Caitlin while they were babysitting.


	8. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Louisa Snart, Star City 2046

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My face cast for Louisa Snart isTristan Mays.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part VIII

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

When Louisa was two years old, the man from the future came and took her parents away. She vaguely remembered her father telling her that the future was in danger and that they needed to go, to make it better so that she could grow up without fear. She didn’t know why _they_ specifically had to go, not then, but she thinks she understands it better now. Uncle Mick was going with them, and Uncle Mick was tough, he would protect them.  

As the years ticked by and there continued to be no sign of them, Louisa wrapped herself in the comfort of academia to escape the nagging feelings of abandonment that she squashed down, deep inside her. She still had family after all, she was still loved. She lived with her Grandma, and Grandpa and Aunt Laurel and nana Donna came to visit all the time. She spent hours in the lab with Uncle Cisco and Aunt Caitlin, learning all about Metahumans and engineering and biology and anything else she could get them to share with her.  

Aunt Lisa was never far away either. She would later find out that Lisa had retired from the Rogues to be closer to her, a fact that Louisa had always appreciated.

Aunt Felicity taught her all about computers and Uncle Olie and Aunt Nyssa insisted she know how to defend herself. She met a lot of interesting people too. There was Supergirl and her human sister Alex. There was an actual _Martian_ named J’onn J’onzz. She met more science geeks who were happy to share their knowledge and maybe the most painful meeting she had ever had, Leo Snart, her father’s alternate earth doppelganger who was every bit the hero her father attempted not to be. After the initial shock of meeting him had worn off and Barry had explained who she was to their Leonard, he’d done his best to be there for her, especially when he started traveling regularly between his own earth and his husband’s earth.     

Louisa spent so much time learning that by the time she turned sixteen she was already on her way to college. She’d never been able to decide what she loved more, so she went for multiple degrees, multiple doctorates.

At twenty years old, Louisa was working on a new project, something that had interested her for years, ever since she heard Aunt Caitlin mention it in passing in her years spent at Star Labs. She called it a metagene. The idea that the Particle accelerator, the antimatter it created, hadn’t created Metahumans, but awoke a latent gene inside the human genome.

Aunt Caitlin had been very interested in studying her theory, but after Killer Frost made herself known, she’d dropped the research, no longer interested in why so much as how to control it. No one, at least to Louisa’s knowledge, had taken the research up again.

So there she was, testing her own blood for the latent gene. It all back fired though. Years later it still hadn’t been pinpointed exactly how. Something had happened, a reaction of some kind that catalyzed an explosion, decimating her work space at Star Labs. She would wake up three days later surrounded by ice and snow, her breath materializing in front of her face.

The new Captain Cold had been born.

She continued her work in the day and spent her nights along side The Flash and his growing team of heroes. Eventually that team would morph into what the populous would call, the Justice League, but in those early days they were just a group of friends, family, with a common goal. To protect innocent lives from those who sought to upset the balance.

Leonard Snart had always covered up in his time as Captain Cold, and looking into his history, she couldn’t blame him for that. (She’d run into her grandfather a time or two over the years, both in costume and out, and she took a perverse pleasure in foiling his schemes. She wondered if her father would be as proud of her as her Aunt Lisa was if he knew how little she pulled her punches with him).

Louisa didn’t have to worry about that though, and with the nature of her powers it was best to remain as unrestricted as possible. She wore a full body, black kevlar suit with high cut sleeveless shoulders, intricately designed to allow her to move aerodynamically as she skated along icy paths and bridge ways, just like Aunt Caitlin had taught her. Over that she wore a loose fitting trench coat vest in navy blue and a hood with a trim of fur around the edge and goggles, just like her father’s. Finally, taking a page out of her mother’s book, she wore a mask from the bottom edge of her goggles down to her neck, making her a little more frightening and harder to read in the field.

When Louisa was twenty seven, Star City fell to Grant Wilson’s army. Laurel barely made it out with Felicity, Lyla, Sara Diggle ,Thea and Roy. John was killed in the final stand against Wilson, and Oliver was gravely injured going underground and cutting off all ties with the outside world until eventually he was assumed dead by most members of the League.

Civilians were evacuated and the criminal element took over. Because of the distinct lack of innocent bystanders, the Justice League declared Star City a loss and abandoned it, effectively washing their hands of the whole thing as if Wilson wouldn’t one day grow bored and mount an attack on another city.

John Diggle Jr., now staunchly refusing that name and going only by Connor Hawke, would not accept that his home and the city his father died for was a lost cause, so he took up the mantle of the Arrow in Oliver’s place and went to work, becoming quite the thorn in Grant Wilson’s side.

JJ as she had called him, watching him grow up fourteen years her junior, was in over his head. He was hot headed and angry and he was going to make a mistake one day that would destroy everything his father fought and died to protect. So with a promise to his mother, Louisa set out for Star City and added a Meta element to the resistance against Grant Wilson.

Star City had, quite literally become a city of thieves. The entire landscape looked like a post apocalyptic wasteland, complete with roaming hoards of criminals just looking to live it up in a lawless land. If what she heard about her father was true, she was sure he would hate it here. These people lacked the finesse and dignity of master criminals. They were loud and obnoxious and had no skills other than what they needed to intimidate lesser baddies. Her Uncle Mick on the other hand, would have made a home here quite happily. In fact, she was sure a man like Mick Rory would run a place like this. Brutal, savage and vastly underestimated.

Louisa did her best to keep Connor safe, watching his back, helping him control the rage that had infested his heart and mind, but it was an uphill battle through and through.

When Louisa was thirty years old, the man from the future brought her parents home. It probably would have meant more if he had done it on purpose.

Connor was being stubborn as usual, refusing to listen to reason and storming off into the night. She was getting ready to go after him when she noticed the explosion over the city. It had been a ship, she was sure of it, but it had disappeared almost immediately. She moved quickly, finding Connor not far from where she was sure the ship landed. He was holding his bow up, an arrow notched and ready to fire.

“Olie?” she heard her voice before she saw her. “Olie it’s me, Sara.”

Louisa felt her heart stop, her eyes welling with tears behind her goggles. How long had she waited to hear that voice again, how long had it been since she thought she’d forgotten it completely.

Conner let his arrow fly and Louisa reacted, sending out a shard of ice that knocked it out of the sky before sliding down to street level on an ice road.

“What the hell are you doing?” Connor yelled at her, but she ignored him, stepping between him and the group of time travelers.

None of them looked any older than they had when they left. Her mother was still as young and beautiful as ever, now wearing white instead of the black of her Canary uniform. Her father wasn’t far behind her, his gun in his hands, looking tense and ready to defend himself. Mick was just beside him, the larger man looking annoyed, but ready for a fight nonetheless. Ray was looking between them, his mind trying to work out a plan while simultaneously trying to process the ruins of the city, renamed in his honor, around him. The rest of the team, whom she only knew from stories waited with bated breath.

Louisa stepped forward and Sara stood her ground. She smirked behind her mask, glad to see the stories of her mother’s fearlessness were not exaggerated. With that though, she reached up and removed her mask and goggles.

“Cold!” Connor exclaimed in shock. They had gone to great lengths to keep their identities secret here, though Louisa was fairly certain Grant had put everything together already.  

The recognition on her parents' faces was all the proof she needed. For years she had wrestled to subdue the idea that she had been abandoned, forgotten for some higher calling, but standing there watching shock and love pass over their faces she knew they hadn’t forgotten her. Whatever time these versions came from, they hadn’t meant to leave her behind for so long.

“Louisa?” Leonard spoke first, his voice choked with emotion Uncle Barry would have killed to hear. She could see the moment Ray and Mick realized what was going on, but her attentions were focused elsewhere.

“Welcome home.” she said. Which was the last word she got in before all hell broke loose. She slipped her goggles back on, leaving the mask off and ran for cover, ducking behind a pile of overturned cars beside her parents, Mick, Ray and Jax. A little further back Rip Hunter, Kendra and Professor Stein were huddled at the end of a city bus.

“What the hell happened here?” Sara asked.

“Three years ago, Slade Wilson’s son, Grant Wilson, invaded with an army of Mirakuru soldiers.” Louisa explained, she ducked out of cover long enough to shoot an ice bolt across the street, before taking cover again.

“Slade has a son?” Sara looked shocked.

“Slade has several sons. For a guy who was stuck on a “deserted” island with a squad of mercenaries he got around a lot.” she explained. “He learned from his father’s mistakes and had the city under siege in days _despite_ Justice League Resources being diverted here. When it became clear they weren’t going to win, the League evacuated all civilians and declared the city a lost cause.”

“We need to get out of here!” Rip yelled up to them. He rose up, fired a few shots from what was clearly not a six shooter and ducked down again.

“Where to?” Leonard called back.

“Back to the ship, we’ll regroup there.”

“You’re coming with us.” Sara told her, as Louisa positioned herself to jump out again.

“You’ll get no argument from me. That dumbass however, might be a problem.” she replied, hooking a thumb at Connor to their right. “Get ready!” she hollered back at the second group.

Louisa would never admit it, at least not to anyone here, but the look of awe on her parents’ faces as they watched her arms ice over, her eyes glow behind the lens of her goggles, was the kind of satisfying she couldn’t describe. She stood to full height and shot a powerful blast of ice from both hands, sending Wilson’s forces scrambling for cover.

“Let’s go.” she said once she was sure they were down. She turned to call to Connor but he was already making his way in the opposite direction and doubling back now would just put him in even more danger. She cursed and followed her parents.

The Waverider was nothing like she pictured. It was very industrial for future tech, but she supposed it wasn’t meant to be anything but military grade. Rip didn’t look the slightest bit happy for her to be there, but she didn’t really care. He’d taken her parents away from her for twenty nine years, he could kiss her ass. From the looks Leonard and Sara was shooting him, they felt the same.

“I’m going to assume,” Louisa began as they stopped at the center console. “That since we all remember who Vandal Savage is, you haven’t killed him yet.”

“Not yet, no.” Ray explained. “We didn’t mean to come to this time either. We were attacked in the temporal zone and ended up crashing here.”

“Yes, and if we don’t find what we need to repair the ship, we won’t be leaving either.” Rip added.

“What do you need?” Louisa asked.

“A specialized circuit board.” Rip replied and Louisa got the feeling he was being purposefully obtuse.

“Can you be a little more specific? What exactly is the circuit board for? Navigation? An induction coil? Stabilization of thrust lifters? Connective uplink to your AI? I can get you a circuit board, but I need to know what it’s for so I can get you the right one.”

Rip for all his snobbery looked a little dumbfounded.

“We need a circuit board that will handle highly charged streams of temporal energy over a long period of time in regular intervals. The energy itself is similar to particle energy like that of the antimatter from the Metabang.” The AI, who sounded very much like Barry’s AI Gideon, spoke.

“Thank you.” Louisa replied.

“You’re quite welcome _Dr_. Snart.” and if the AI put a little more emphasis than necessary on her title, well, she wasn’t going to complain.  

“Felicity was working on a prototype of one such circuit board as a component to a larger machine in conjunction with my own research.” Louisa explained. “After the second uprising, Felicity had to abandon pretty much everything in favor of getting people out. So, she locked down all of Smoak Tech’s warehouses to keep Wilson’s men out. What you need should be in the underground warehouse on the corner of Adams and O’Neil.”

Rip stood up a little straighter. “Alright then, would you be able to lead us there?” she nodded. “Good, then Dr. Palmer, Mr. Rory, and Mr. Snart you’ll come with us to retrieve the part, the rest of you will stay here and make the other repairs.”

In the cargo hold, Louisa watched with a twinkle of amusement as her mother got ready to go, clearly in defiance of Rip’s orders.

“What are you doing?” Rip questioned her as she slipped on her gloves.

“I’m going out there.” she replied.

“No your not.”

“Try and stop me.”

“Sara, you can not go out there. It’s not a good idea.” Rip was trying very hard not to sound pleading and Louisa had to give him credit for it.

“I’m not going to sit here twiddling my thumbs while my _daughter_ goes out into danger.” she told him. Louisa felt a little swell of pride at the declaration, something her father clearly noticed if his little wink toward her was anything to go by.

“I don’t know if you noticed but Dr. Snart is quite capable of defending herself and your attachment to this city will be a hindrance to this mission.”

“Excuse you?”

Rip sighed. “Believe me when I tell you that places in time, like this, are very distracting. If you go out there I guarantee you will lose focus on the mission.”

“I’m going.” she concluded, turning away from him.

“Ms. Lance, please, we cannot risk getting involved in this version of the future.”

“What do you mean this version?” Ray asked.

Louisa had spent a disproportionate amount of time thinking about time travel growing up and while she couldn’t claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, she was fairly certain she knew what Rip was hinting at.

As if to confirm her suspicions, Rip turned to her. “Am I to assume, given how you greeted them,” he gestured to Leonard and Sara then. “That you have not seen your parents since 2017?”

Louisa nodded, trying not to dwell on the looks of horror on Sara or Leonard’s face. “It’s been twenty nine years give or take a month or two.”

“Right, well, this future exists the way it does because I never brought you home. This timeline of events was created because I took you out of your own time and when this mission is over and return you to 2017, shortly after you initially left, this timeline will cease to exist.”

“Sounds good to me.” Louisa muttered heading for the cargo doors.

“I’m still going.” she heard her mother say behind her and she smirked at Rip’s exasperated sigh. He put up no more argument though and then they were moving. They’d made it a little way through the city when she felt herself being flanked on either side. She turned to look over one shoulder then the next to see Sara and Leonard. Once they knew she was aware of their presence they matched her pace.

“I can understand why you wouldn’t want any of this to happen,” Sara began, gesturing around them. “But what about the rest of your life? Do you really want to rewrite that?”

Louisa sighed. “If you think both of you being in my life is going to change who I become you’re wrong. It’s not like I lived a loveless life. Between my grandparents, Aunt Laurel and Aunt Lisa, not to mention Team Arrow, Team Flash, Team Supergirl, Leo and his husband, I didn’t exactly want for anything.” she explained. “I mean, of course I missed you guys and wished you were there, but everyone made sure I knew I still had a family.” she continued. “And even if things change it won’t be so bad. I mean, if having you both around means I only have four PH.Ds instead of five, or I don’t becoming a meta human it won’t be a total loss.”

“You have five Ph.Ds?” Ray exclaimed somewhere behind them. She saw Leonard turn back to glare at him before facing forward again.

“How did you become a metahuman?” Sara asked.

“A couple of my Ph.Ds are in the field of Genetics.”

“You were studying the Metagene, weren’t you?” Rip spoke up.

Louisa nodded.

“The metagene?” Ray questioned.

“Dr. Snow posited that the particle accelerator didn’t make metahumans, but instead awoke a latent gene in the human genetic structure. She was right.” she turned to Leonard. “Hearing Scudder’s account of what happened that night and knowing you were close enough to the lab to have been affected, either to become a meta or die of exposure, and yet you didn’t, I thought maybe instead of awakening the gene, the antimatter simple made yours more prominent. The gene then would have been passed to the next generation, i.e. me. I was studying my own DNA samples when there was an explosion at my workstation. No one knows what happened, even ten years later, but I woke up a few days later buried in snow.”

“And you became Captain Cold.” Sara said amused.

“It seemed appropriate.” Louisa replied with a smirk of her own.

The group had made it about half way, when they were ambushed, this time by one of the gangs that had moved in after the civilians evacuated.

“What is this, Mad Max?” Mick yelled, as they took cover. He fired a stream of flame from his gun toward the approaching ATVs.

“Yeah, this whole city is full of walking cliches.” Louisa replied, firing off a blast of ice. “We need a safe place to regroup.”

“We’re open to suggestions, kid.” Mick replied.

Louisa turned to Ray and Sara. “Do you remember how to get to the bunker through Oliver’s campaign office?” Sara nodded. “Then we’ll go there.”

“There’s an opening at two o’clock, we can make it through if you can cover us.” Rip told Louisa as she ducked a bullet.

“I’m on it, get ready to move.” she replied without hesitation.

“Wait a second! Are you bulletproof too?” Leonard yelled, grabbing her by the shoulder to keep her down.

She grinned. “As a matter of fact I am.”

With that, she stripped off her mask goggles and vest and handed them to Sara. They watched in fascination as her ice blue eyes glowed until they were completely whited out, a thick layer of ice materialized out of the air and formed to her body.

“I’ll draw their fire, then you guys go. I’ll be right behind you.” she told them, leaping over the mountain of rubble they had taken cover behind. She landed with a solid thunk and started firing off ice blasts, sending the gang scrambling for cover.

With their attention diverted, the group took off for an adjacent alley, following Sara and Ray as they weaved through the wreckage of Star City toward an abandoned office building. Once there, Sara led them toward a blank wall in the main office and pressed inward, letting the panel slide out of the way and revealing an elevator.

The Bunker was a mess. All of the tables and consuls were covered in plastic sheeting , the same sheeting that also hung from the ceiling. There was very little light, most of it concentrated in the center of the room.

“Leave!” A voice boomed from the shadows. A very familiar voice.

“Olie?” Sara replied, walking through clutter. She stepped up onto the command center platform, catching the silhouette of the younger Arrow in the shadows. She ignored him. “Olie, it’s me, Sara.”

The man who stepped out of the shadows was broken, in more ways than one. His right arm was gone, severed just below the shoulder and his eyes looked so much like they had the first time she’d seen him after the Gambit went down. His hair was grey and he’d grown a goatee that only emphasized the age lines on his face.

“It’s been awhile.” was his only reply.

“Clearly.” Ray mumbled behind them. Oliver looked over her shoulder at him and acknowledged him with a nod.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“We crash landed. Lou was trying to help us get to one of Fee’s warehouses to find a part we needed.” Sara explained.

Oliver looked away, shaking his head. “She shouldn’t have come back here. She’s wasting her talents on a lost cause.”

“No shit.” Louisa spoke up, drawing their attention to the now open elevator. She stepped off and made her way over to them. “But I’m not here for a lost cause I’m here for JJ, so there’s nothing _you_ of all people need to worry about.”  

“I’m sorry what now?” The other arrow, the one who had attacked them when they arrived, had slowly been making his way out of the shadows and was now looking furiously at Louisa, his hood removed, but his mask still in place.

“You didn’t actually think I came here for this wasteland did you? Your mother asked me to watch your back because she knew that even if she sent ARGUS in to get you, you would still find your way back here eventually. The only attachment I have to this city are the people and the people are gone, living safe happy lives in other cities across the country. There’s nothing here to defend but you.” Louisa replied. “And if you stopped to think for one god damned second you would realize that _none_ of this is helping anyone.” she sighed. “You’re wasting your time defending ruins when the civilization has moved on and is thriving.”

“She’s right John.” Oliver spoke up and Louisa turned on him.

“I don’t need your help, hypocrite.” she snapped.

“Lou.” Sara tried to placate.

“You want to talk about how you failed this city, well I think we should talk about how you failed your family. Your wife, your children, their all in Central, putting their lives on hold waiting for some sign that everyone is wrong, that your still alive and what are you doing? Sitting in the dark moping.”

Louisa took a deep breath and stepped back. “But none of that matters right now.” She turned to the Legends. “We need to get to the warehouse.”

“Do you have a plan?” Rip questioned tersely. Probably a little annoyed that he had to sit through the family drama, but he would just have to get over it.

“Aunt Felicity had all the warehouses connected to the Bunker via underground access tunnels. We should be able to get there from here.” she turned to her father. “That is if you can break the security codes she used to seal the bulkheads.”

Leonard smirked. “Watch and learn, sweetheart.”

xXx

“Promise me that you’ll be careful, that you’ll stay safe.” Sara said, as she pulled Louisa in a strong hug.

“I promise.” Louisa replied. The battle with Slade was tough, but Oliver showing up in the final stretch to rid the city of him once and for all, cut it short. Now with the Waverider fixed up, the Legends were ready to return to their journey through time.

“We’ll see you soon.” Leonard added as they pulled away, his tone brokering no argument. He stepped up to pull her into a hug of his own. “Take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

Before she knew it the Waverider was lifting into the sky, disappearing in a flash of light. Almost immediately the world began to ripple around her, the decay of the city fading out of existence. She stood on that rooftop, a sense of peace in watching everything disappear into inky darkness. The darkness was nothingness, stretching on and reclaiming a future that should have never been. As it rode up around her, ready to say goodbye to this version of herself, to the life she had built, to the people she loved, she was struck by a single thought.

 _“Something’s not right.”_  


	9. Part IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legends square off against the Legion of Doom.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part IX

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

The wailing cries of her daughter when it finally sank in that she would never see her father again would haunt Sara for the rest of her life. She woke from nightmares of that dreary afternoon, standing at the foot of an empty grave, staring at the neat carving of Leonard’s name in the rich black granite, almost nightly. Her daughter in her arms, sobbing into her shoulder while their friends and family gathered around to pay their respects to the crook, the hero, the legend. The man who saved freewill with only his daughter in mind. 

Mick stood at her side, suppressing his rage under deep sorrow. It should have been him, he should have been the name on the stone, not Leonard. Leonard had a family, a life to live for. Mick had nothing but himself, there would be no real loss to anyone. Evidently Leonard had felt differently. Judging by Sara’s complete lack of anger and the fact that she had carried him out of there, she agreed. 

Louisa was inconsolable. The slightest mention of his name would set her off. She slept on his side of the bed, wrapped in one of his sweaters, tied up to fit her tiny body. With every passing day the sorrow ebbed into a deep seated despair and Sara could barely stand it. At least that’s what she told herself; the reason she left Louisa with her mother and returned to the Waverider. That she couldn’t bare to see her baby girl in pieces, distraught and in agony at the loss of the man she had been so close to. The darker part of her, the piece of her she couldn’t lie to knew there was more to it. Louisa was her father’s daughter after all, and every minute Sara looked at the little girl she saw more and more of the man she loved. The man who helped her create this amazing little girl. 

Returning to the Waverider had been a bad idea.

xXx

The Legion had gone back in time and recruited a version of Leonard Snart that was not so easily swayed by sentiment. In fact, he seemed to harbor an unnatural hatred for all of them. She couldn’t blame him. This version knew only that he died a hero, ensuring that his belief to live for himself and only himself was now set in stone. As far as he was concerned, it was their fault. 

Every bit of her hurt whenever he turned that icy glare on her, and she was sure he could see it. That was only confirmed when he came after her late one night, undoubtedly ready to play on her emotions, break her. Clearly, Malcolm hadn’t warned him that she wasn’t so easily beaten. 

Things had been rough since they discovered the old Leonard among their enemies, so Sara had taken everyone home. They needed a break if they were going to win, to ensure they didn’t wear themselves thin. She went home, to her house in Central, the place where her daughter was waiting, where the ghost of her Leonard resided in every corner.  

She was on high alert with the Legion on the loose, so it only made sense that she heard him enter her home, even without this version making the slightest noise to avoid startling her. She stopped him in the hall just short of Louisa’s room. The outside of her door was unadorned, Sara refused to let her decorate it in case of an intruder. She never thought that the intruder would be Leonard. 

“Get out.” Sara tells him, her voice low, nearly a growl. 

Leonard was not expecting her to have heard him, nor was he prepared for the gun she had pointed at him. He smirked, quickly finding his footing again. 

“Never figured you for the white picket fence type, Canary.” he tells her, his voice at normal volume. Sara resisted the urge to flinch, praying to whoever would listen that she could steer him out of there before Louisa heard him. 

“I said get out.” she repeated, taking a step forward. There was a murderous intent in her eyes, but Leonard knew better. Whatever he saw from her before, he’d judged correctly. She wouldn’t kill him. She couldn’t, whether to protect the timeline or because she loves him, his life was safe so long as she was the one he was facing. 

“What’s wrong Canary,” he began, taking a step forward without fear. “Unless I’ve misjudged,” and he knew he hadn’t. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. Or are you feeling…”

There was a shuffle behind Louisa’s door, and the panic that crossed her face threw him. 

“You can’t be here, you have to leave.” she said, her anger turning to desperation. “Please.” she begged without shame. 

Before he could formulate a reply, the door knob turned and in a flash the gun was out of sight, though he doubted it was far from her reach. 

Leonard wasn’t really sure what he expected to see when the door opened, maybe her sister, or one of the other heroes, but definitely not a two year old in snowflake footie pajamas.

He watched the little girl rub sleep from her eyes before she looked around, her brilliant blue eyes meeting his own. Like a delayed reaction, tears sprang up even as a smile split her face, and from the corner of his eye he saw the pain twist across Sara’s face. 

“Daddy!” the little girl exclaimed, latching on to his leg. “You finally came home!” 

He didn’t know what he was doing when he knelt down in front of her, letting her wrap her arms around his neck in a desperate grip. He was floundering. How did he not know? Did the rest of the Legion know about this?

Louisa sobbed into his shoulder and by some residual instinct he soothed her as best he could, picking her up. She immediately clamped around him, holding on like she thought he would disappear.

“Hey, now that’s enough of that.” he said gently, rubbing circles into her back. She sniffled, finally pulling away enough to look up at him. “I’m sorry baby girl, but you’re dreaming.” he continued, resisting the urge to flinch as her face crumpled up again. 

“Can you…” she huffed, trying to speak without breaking out into sobs again. “Can you visit me in my dreams every night?”she asked, her baby speak garbled even more as she fought back more tears. 

“I’ll try my best. You might not always remember though.” he continued. He was working off of instinct now, thinking about what he might say to Lisa, trying to let her down as easily as he could. He stepped back into her bedroom, making his way over to the bed. She was starting to wain, the late hour catching up with her, so when he set her back in bed she didn’t argue, letting him tuck her in. He waited with her until she fell back asleep, then quietly crept back out.

Sara wasn’t where he left her when he stepped into the hall. He found her three doors down in the master bedroom, sitting on the edge facing the door. She looked up at him as he stepped in, a mix of emotions running across her face as she struggled to contain them. Leonard closed the door behind him. 

His own emotions were bubbling to the surface, the most prominent of which was rage. “Explain something to me Sara.” he practically spat her name. “How do justify leaving that little girl to go play hero, convincing me to go with you.” 

“How dare you!” Sara was up before he could register the movement, backing him into the wall. “You have no idea what happened!” she wanted to hit him, he could see it, but she restrained herself, stepping back. “Going on that damn mission was your idea. You told me you couldn’t imagine a world where our daughter would have to grow up with the threat of Vandal Savage hanging over her head.” she said. 

“You expect me to believe that?” he demanded. 

“I don’t expect you to believe anything.” she ground out. “I never asked you to be a hero Leonard! I didn’t want you to be one. There was nothing wrong with you.” Sara stopped, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “I only had one rule.” she continued. “If you were going to be in her life you  _ had  _ to be here. If you went on a job, you  _ had  _ to come home. If she  _ needed  _ you, you would be there. And you were. Everything was working out better than I ever expected, we were happy. Happier than I ever remembered being since the Gambit. And then some cowboy wanna be shows up and shows us images of a future we wouldn’t even be alive to see and all you can think about is how we may not be around to see that future but our descendants would be. You wanted to go, for Lou, for her children and grandchildren, because despite what anyone ever thought of you, you never failed at anything you set your mind to. And you never set your mind to anything more than being a father.” Sara huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose to ward off the headache she could feel coming on. 

“So I don’t care what you think, or what you believe, or even whatever the Legion has told you. I’d give anything to be able to go back, to convince you that it isn’t our problem, that they can stop Savage without us. You’d go back to planning whatever job you were working on back then, I’d go back to teaching martial arts at the little studio on the southside and every evening we’d come home and make dinner together and play with Lou and we’d be a family again. And don’t you fucking scoff, Leonard Snart! You were fucking happy, like it or not we made you happy. This life made you happy. Having the extra incentive not to get caught made you happy.”

“And how can you be so sure?” he asked, the bite gone from his words. 

“Because no one, not even Lisa, had ever seen you smile like you did whenever Lou was around. She didn’t even think you could smile like that.” 

Leonard held her gaze from as long as he could, but she was letting him see more than he was capable of handling, so he turned away, shaking his head. “You fly a time ship, haven’t you figure out how to bring me back?” he asked.

“Not without hurting Lou. Every scenario ends in Time stream collapse. But there wasn’t a body at the vanishing point, and until someone proves otherwise, as far as I’m concerned that means you're out there somewhere. And I’ll be damned if I ever stop looking.” 

Sara calmed herself. “Now get out of my house.” 

Leonard scowled. “Don’t you mean our house.” 

“Nope, only my name is on the deed. I bought this place, you just moved in after you found out about her.” she was glaring at him now, and Leonard knew he shouldn’t push his luck, but this turn of events intrigued him and he was desperate for more answers. 

“You know it’s strange. Does Malcolm really know you? All he talks about is your righteousness. How your a hero, desperate for redemption. And yet, you would allow a crook to live in your home, raise your daughter.”

“Redemption isn’t a destination, it’s a journey and I will walk this path the way I see fit.” 

“But why walk it at all? Malcolm talks about your skill, the only reason he’s not in a cell somewhere is because they had the old man. You beat him, you beat all of them and yet you waste your talents on this hero thing.”

“I’m not a hero, Leonard, none of us are. We’re outcasts, misfits, the ones the real heroes can live without. We’re here because a man in a duster promised that we could legends, that we could accomplish something greater than any of us were ever intended to. But at the end of the day, if I have to choose between all of time and space and my daughter, I’ll choose Louisa every time.” 

Leonard watched the young woman before him, the way she held herself loose but ready for a fight. The power coiled in her was refined, highly trained and he held no illusions that without his gun he didn’t stand a chance against her. 

“Do you know what the spear does, Sara?” he asked. 

“It rewrites reality.” she replied. 

“So let’s rewrite reality. You say you can’t find a way to bring me back, you don’t have to. We help the Legion get the spear and we can create a life with Louisa.”

“We had a life with Louisa, and then you decided to be the one thing you claimed not to be.” she replied. “And now you want to live a lie to make up for it. That’s not how this works, Leonard.” 

“Maybe not, but from the looks of it it’s the best offer you’re going to get.” he replied. 

“The best…” Sara huffed a humorless laugh. “Let me get this straight. You want me to betray my team and help the man who  _ murdered  _ me, and another who blackmailed my father into helping him nearly destroy my city, all so we can create a fake world to live in where there’s no guarantee that either of us will get what we actually want, because let’s be honest here, I know you’re smart enough to realize you can’t trust the Legion. You’re no one to them, just a pawn in their game, trying to divide my team.” 

“And you think I have that much power over your team?” Leonard smirked, taking a step closer. She stood her ground, even as he continued to close the distance. 

“You know you do.” she replied as he stopped in front of her. She had to tilt her head back to meet his eye. 

“I’ll make you a deal, little bird.” he began. “You do your job and I’ll do mine, and we’ll see which one of us comes out on top.” 

Sara smirked, sensing a moment to get the upper hand on him. “The Leonard I knew, knew exactly who always came out on top.” 

There was very little doubt what she meant and Leonard smirked, studying her for a moment before stepping back and turning to leave. 

xXx

Leonard had never considered that he might want to be a father. It just wasn’t something he had ever thought about. He wasn’t afraid to be a father, he knew better than to think he could ever be as bad as his own father, but a child didn’t really fit into his way of life, and quite frankly, neither did a wife. For once he was glad to have been proven wrong. 

Louisa was up early, like most toddlers her age. At three she was becoming quite the little spit fire. Her energy levels knew no limits and they constantly had to watch her to keep her out of trouble. He wouldn’t give it up for the world though. She was amazing; smart, beautiful, kind. He wanted to hold on and never let go. 

Leonard flipped a couple of chocolate chip pancakes onto a plate, added butter and syrup, cut them up into little pieces and then set it in front of Louisa where she sat in her booster seat at the island. She grinned at him like he had just given her all the diamonds in the world and dug in with an energy reserved only for the starving and kids under six. 

“Can we go to the creek?” Lou asked, her mouth full, making her usually garbled baby talk even more difficult to understand. He took a moment to work it out before;

“Sure, after mommy gets up.” 

The creek sat in a canyon in the woods to the back of the house. He and Lisa used to play their as children themselves, when they got to be children that is. It was one of the many things he loved about this house. This house was his grandparents, an old three story farm house whose land had given way to forest when the original owners sold it off. For every sentence his father served in Ironheights, he and Lisa would be sent here to live with them. Neither of them were thrilled with their sons life or the way he treated his family and they looked forward to the times Leonard and Lisa would be brought out by child services, ready to protect and love them in a way they weren’t at home. 

Unfortunately it wouldn’t last. By the time Leonard was thirteen, old age had claimed both of them, and the house sat unoccupied in the bank’s possession while it fell into disrepair. He’d bought it when he was older, intending to retire one day and spend his ill gotten gains fixing it up, but then Louisa came into his life and the house finally had a proper use again. 

“Mommy!” Leonard heard Louisa say, and he turned to look over his shoulder, smiling down at the woman who stopped beside him. She smiled back as he leaned down to steal a kiss. 

“Good morning baby.” she replied as she pulled away, walking over to Lou and kissing her on the forehead. “Did daddy make you chocolate chip pancakes?” 

“Uh huh.” she replied. “Daddy said we can go to the creek.”

“Did he now?” Sara replied smiling in thanks as he set a plate in front of her. “Well it’s a beautiful day for it.” 

“I thought so.” he said, sitting down with them. 

When breakfast was finished, Sara cleaned up the kitchen while Leonard took Louisa upstairs to get cleaned up and dressed. They then met Sara in the kitchen, Louisa toddling up to her in her little blue rain boots. They each took one of her hands and together walked out the back door toward the fence that locked the property off from the woods beyond. 

From a bolder on the bank, Leonard watched his wife and daughter looking down into the ankle deep water, pointing at the various creatures that swam by. There was no greater sight in the world than the girls he loved more than anything smiling and laughing without a care in the world. He gave them this, a normal life, he created it, and yet the nagging feeling that it was all wrong sat heavily in his chest. 

Leonard didn’t know why he brought Sara along. He supposed on some level he was still angry at her for letting him die, and living a lie, as she had put it, was a better punishment than anything else he could come up with. But it wasn’t long in this new world the Legion had created, that he started to realize exactly why his future self had loved her so much. He could spend hours listing all the things he learned about her in the last year. Unfortunately, with every new discovery came the growing doubt that what he did was right. Each day presented the questions, ‘How much of this is real?’, ‘Did he create these feelings in them with the spear, or did they truly love him this much?’, ‘Was it him they loved, or the man who died, who looked like him, but had grown into a different person?’. 

Each day the worry that all of this would collapse around him grew. With every visit from Thawne or Merlyn or Darhk; each time Mick came by looking more and more bored with their new world, he wondered if maybe Sara had been right all along. That happy or not, living a lie was a terrible life to live. 

“Earth to Len, are you there?” Sara’s voice pulled him from his thoughts and focused back to find Sara standing in front of him, staring amused. He heard Louisa giggle and looked down. She was standing beside her mother, smiling up at him, her hands cupped together. “Lou wants to show you something.” 

Wearily he crouched down and she stepped forward presenting her hands. “This isn’t going to fly in my face like the last one, is it?” 

Louisa giggled. “No.” she said and he didn’t believe her one bit. She carefully opened her hands enough for him to peak in, revealing a little green frog. 

“He’s cute.” Leonard drawled, watching her face light up. As if on cue the frog leapt through the space she created between her hands. He just barely ducked out of the way, letting it land on the boulder he had been sitting on. 

Louisa giggled, Sara just barely holding back her own laughter. 

“Well isn’t this sweet.” a familiar voice called out, sending a shock of dread through him. He quickly buried it deep, turning to find the source. 

“Malcolm.” Sara greets with a smile, letting him pull her into a hug. 

“Sara, good to see you. I see you finally got the house finished, I’m sorry I didn’t come by sooner.” 

“That’s alright. We understand you’re very busy.” she replied. She turned to look down at Louisa who was smiling up at the older man. “Isn’t that right?”

She nodded, giving him a hug when he crouched down to her height. “Now, I know you’re having fun, but I need to borrow your dad for a little while.” the smile disappeared. “I promise I won’t keep him long.” 

“Ok.” 

Leonard looked less than thrilled with the intrusion, a fact he was sure Sara noticed. He endeavored to remember to come up with an excuse as to why he wouldn’t be thrilled to go off with the man she only knew as the father of her childhood friends and the mutual acquaintance that brought them together. 

After a quick farewell, Leonard followed Malcolm back to the house where his car was parked. Darhk was waiting there, which only made the feeling of dread that much worse. 

“What’s going on?” Leonard asked as he got in the car. 

“Thawn wouldn’t say, only that it was important we all meet at Star Labs.” Malcolm explained. 

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’s just blowing it out of proportion.” Darhk replied.

Leonard doubted it. 

The drive into the city went quickly. Being VIPs in this world certainly helped and before they knew it they were meeting Thawne in the lab. 

“What the hell is this?” Leonard asked, coming to a stop in the door. In the center of the lab floor Mick was sitting in a metal framed chair, bound and gagged. 

“It would seem your partner is having second thoughts about our little arrangement.” Thawne explained. 

“What did he do?” Malcolm asked. 

“I caught him ransacking one of the labs upstairs, trying to convince Mr. Palmer that this world isn’t real.” 

“Where’s Raymond now?” Leonard asked. 

“Cleaning up the lab.” Thawne explained. “From what I can tell there was no harm done, but I doubt Mr. Rory is going to give up so easily.” 

Leonard sighed. Of all the things he expected Mick to do, this was not one of them. What exactly he hoped to accomplish, Leonard didn’t know. Even if he managed to ‘wake’ Raymond up, that still left the rest of the team. Nate and Amaya were in Star City where Darhk could keep an eye on them. Jax and Stein were here, but they worked directly under Thawne so it was near impossible to speak with them in private and Sara was with him, far enough outside the city that only the Legion could get there quickly with their special privileges. On top of that, waking them up wouldn’t undo the reality they created. They would have to get a hold of the spear, which Thawne was so paranoid about he kept it hidden away where not even they knew where it was. He had figured it out of course, but he’d never told Mick. 

A thought suddenly occurred to him and he froze. “Do you have eyes on the others?” he asked, interrupting the back and forth. They all stopped, turning to him. 

“The kid and the old man went home a few hours before he showed up.” Thawne explained. “And like I said, Palmer is upstairs doing his job.”

“Amaya is in Star City keeping an eye on things.” Darhk added. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent out a message.

“What about Rip?” Leonard asked. Thawne gestured to the display case across the lab, the miniaturized Waverider sitting on a pedestal inside. 

“Where he’s been for the last year.” 

“Are you sure?” Leonard insisted. 

The thing about Mick Rory, was that he wasn’t as dumb as he let people believe. If he stopped drinking long enough to focus, he was more than capable of putting together a plan of his own. And there was no better distraction than that of Mick getting impatient and being loud and obvious; playing into the ideas he let people have about him. 

“None of my men are answering.” Darhk spoke up, obviously following Leonard’s train of thought. 

Thawne looked between them before turning on his heels and speeding off. When he zipped back in he was fuming. “They’re gone! Palmer, Stein and Jackson.” he explained. He stepped up to the display case, lowering the glass shield and reached out to pick up the ship, only to get a zap to the hand. He jumped back, barely avoiding a collision to the face and watched in horror as it flew toward Mick. It fired two shots, breaking the cuffs that kept him secure to the chair and then turned to lay down cover fire, allowing Mick to slip out while they dove for cover. 

The Waverider had just barely escaped before Leonard was on his feet rushing after them. He ignored the other calling after him. He needed to go. The rest of the team had a head start, and he was more than certain Sara hadn’t been made to remember while he was still home. He couldn’t let her remember, he couldn’t lose them. Not now, not ever again. 

Leonard thoroughly abused his privileges on the way home, blowing through every stop light and doing nearly one hundred on back country roads. When he pulled up the long winding driveway nothing seemed out of place, but Leonard knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving. 

“Sara?” Leonard called as he burst through the front door. Almost immediately she appeared shushing him. 

“I just put Lou down for her nap.” she told him, her voice low. “What’s wrong? What happened?” 

Leonard floundered. He was so sure he was coming home to hostility. “There was a break in at the lab. It was Mick.” 

Sara looked shocked. “What? Why would he do that?” 

Leonard shook his head. “I don’t know. But he was angry and he threatened you and… he wasn’t working alone. Did anything happen while I was gone?” 

“Not really. Some people showed up asking for directions to the highway.” she explained. “But that’s it.” 

“Who? Can you describe them?” he asked. 

She shrugged. “Uh an older man with glasses, kind of looked like a professor. A young kid, black. Two white guys, one was super tall, the other slightly shorter, both average looking. And then a really pretty black woman.” 

“Did they say anything else to you?” 

“No, they seemed kind of sad though. Why?” 

“No reason, it wasn’t them.” he sighed. 

“Are you alright?” she asked. 

“Yeah, I’m just glad you’re alright. Malcolm and the others are going to handle Mick. I… couldn’t even look at him.” he lied. “So, I’m in for the rest of the day.” 

She smiled and there was nothing sweet about it. “Is that right?” she asked. “Well, Lou is down for her nap. She’ll probably sleep for at least an hour.” 

Leonard hummed, wrapping his arms around her when she stepped up to him. 

“Well, it would be a shame to waste such an opportunity.” he replied, but it was half hearted at best. 

xXx

They had taken one look at Sara, saw the healthy glow of her skin, the lightness in her expression that hasn't existed since before Leonard died and decided that nothing was worth taking that away from her. Mick hadn’t been happy. He understood why, but he knew she wouldn’t want to be left out, that she would be more upset that she was made to live a lie that anything. But the team was resolute. They would try to stop them without her. And they did. 

Doom World, as Nate and Ray had called it, ceased to exist and with it, their future selves. Rip wasn’t thrilled with the plan, but he acknowledged that without Sara they needed to hedge their bets. Going back in time to the moment they were defeated was the only way to ensure Doom World never existed. 

And they won. What was left of the Legion was in the brig, waiting to be taken back to their own times and the timeline secured. Malcolm and Darhk were livid, snipping back and forth at each other but Leonard was surprisingly calm. This Leonard may not have known what had happened in the future the Legends erased, but he knew what he had intended to use the spear to create, and a small part of him was angry that he couldn’t make it happen. And yet, another part of him was relieved. Living a lie never had been his idea of a good time.

Malcolm seemed to understand. As much like a Sociopath as he acted, he was actually capable of love and in Doom World his son and wife and daughter were all safe and sound and happy and most importantly weren’t dead or hated him. 

Darhk and Malcolm were dropped off first, leaving Leonard alone in the brig when Sara finally appeared. She had been keeping her distance since the battle ended and quite frankly, he couldn’t blame her. 

“And what about me?” he asked.  

“I’m taking you back to 2013, Leonard.” she replied. 

“You don’t have to take me back at all. We can go to your time, live our lives the way we were meant to before  _ Captain Hunter _ showed up and ruined everything.” 

“If I don’t take you back, that life won’t exist. We’d never have met, Louisa wouldn’t have been born.” 

He knew she was right, but he didn’t have to like it. “So what now then? You take me back to my own time, make me forget about all of this and go back to your own time, live without me, make our daughter live without me?” 

Sara sighed, shaking her head. “Mick’s going to take you back.” was all she said as she turned on her heels and walked out. 

xXx

The team was celebrating. They’d won, beaten the bad guys and saved the future. Rip had just left with a congratulatory word, which was much better than any of them expected given how badly they could have damaged the timeline, but they weren’t going to dwell on that at the moment. 

“You’re leaving aren’t you?” Mick asked, sliding into the seat beside her in the office. The rest of the crew was out on the bridge, laughing and drinking. 

“I need to get back to Louisa. I shouldn’t have been gone this long to begin with.” Sara replied, never taking her eyes off the revelry. 

“You did what you had to, to get yourself right. Lou’s life will be a lot better with you after all of this than if you had stayed and wallowed in your grief.” he replied. “The team’ll miss you though.” he grunted the last part, washing the emotions behind it back down with a pull from his beer. 

Sara smiled, rolling her head across the back of her chair to look at him. “The team will be fine.” she said. “They’ve got you to lead them.” 

Mick looked surprised for a moment before pushing it aside. “I don’t know. Was thinkin’ of callin’ it quits myself. Hop a plane to Aruba.” 

“Ooo, that sounds nice.” she replied.

“Yeah, well, you and Mini Snart are welcome to join me.” 

Sara smiled. “We might just take you up on that.”   



	10. Part X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to bring Leonard Snart home

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part X

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

“If we’re getting the band back together we’re gonna need our Captain and our pyro.” Ray explained from his seat. Rip was at the controls, Stein and Jax to Ray’s right and Nate to his left. They were also accompanied by two new faces. A tight laced woman named Ava Sharpe and a guy Nate and Ray thought would fit in rather well with the Legends, Gary Greene. 

“We’re not getting the band back together Agent Palmer, we’re recruiting Captain Lance and Mr. Rory for a single mission.” Rip replied exasperated. The whole group had been of high energy since he came to them with this mission and quite frankly he was exhausted already.

“Semantics.” Nate replied. 

“Captain Lance, Mr. Rory and Miss Lance-Snart are in 2017, Aruba.” 

Ray looked confused. “Aruba? That’s kinda random.” 

xXx

Sara and Mick had informed the team before they left the time stream that when they touched down in their own time they had every intention of staying. They weren’t thrilled, but they understood and Amaya was keen to go home herself as well. 

Things didn’t go quite as planned, however, as one could surmise from the T-rex running down the main street through Central City. Flash was less than enthused but he’d done his own damage to the timeline while they were hunting the Legion, so he didn’t really have any room to judge. They had just started getting things under control when Rip and his newly formed organization, The Time Bureau, showed up to help clean up and basically force them into retirement. 

Ray and Nate put up a bit of a fight which from the looks of it Rip was hoping for because he offered all of them jobs within the agency. Sara and Mick turned him down, which he didn’t appear happy about and Amaya opted to return to her own time to make sure the Justice Society stayed together. Stein and Jax agreed, mostly because it would afford them the opportunity to go home every night to their families. 

Sara could have agreed to that herself, but she had told Leonard that she wanted to give Louisa as normal a life as possible and that wasn’t going to happen if she was part of an organization that put a target on her back. 

So, she went home, took care of her daughter, helped Barry whenever he needed backup and continued to teach classes at the gym and dance studio. She’d even done a few portraits for Joe when their regular sketch artist was out of town on other jobs. 

About five months later she got a call from Mick inviting them down to Aruba where he’d, surprisingly set up a used book shop. One would not expect a former crook with a love of fire to also be a lover of literature, but if Sara learned anything from working with the Legends it was not to judge anyone by the first impression they left. 

Lou was excited. She’d never seen the ocean or been to the beach yet and she missed her uncle Mick fiercely. So, after a few weeks of planning she packed them up and boarded a plane for Aruba. 

Now, they were currently lounging on the beach under the shade of an umbrella, just beside her chair Louisa sat in the sand building a little castle and all just seemed right with the world. 

And then Rip Hunter showed up...because why not? 

“Captain Lance, Mr. Rory.” Rip greeted them as he stopped beside their chairs. They knew he wasn’t alone, they knew this couldn’t be good. They still didn’t want anything to do with it, whatever it was. 

“No.” they replied simultaneously. 

“No.” Lou repeated, giggling as she threw sand at Rip’s shoes. 

“Sara, Mick, you guys are definitely going to want to hear what he has to say.” Jax told them. Sara looked over the rim of her sunglasses at him. 

“Is that right?” Mick asked. “And why is that?” 

“Cause we think we can save Snart.”

xXx

“Sara?” Martin’s voice was soft as he entered the med bay. Sara didn’t take her eyes off the man laying in the reclined chair. A moment later she felt his hand on her shoulder. “Making yourself sick, depriving yourself of food and sleep is not going to make him wake up any faster.” 

She knew he was right, and yet she couldn’t make herself leave. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if he doesn’t wake up.” she confided. Martin, stepped around her, pulling up the other rolling chair to sit beside her. “I’ve been thinking about this for over a year. What would happen if I could save him? And I did, we did. And now I can’t stop thinking about what’s going to happen if he doesn’t wake up, if I can’t bring him home for Lou.” 

Martin took Sara’s hand, letting her squeeze it for comfort. “She’s missed him so much, we both have. I just…” she shook her head. 

She just what? Thought that pulling him out of whatever pocket dimension the oculus had pushed him into would magically solve everything. Did she really think it would be that simple, that there wouldn’t be anything wrong with him afterward, some physical or mental issues that would need to be treated. He spent over a year trapped in a pocket dimension, his left arm missing, his body being bombarded by temporal radiation. Gideon, Cisco and Ray were trying to build him a cybernetic arm that would hopefully work like the one he lost, but it would take therapy and time and there was no guarantee he would regain full range of motion or not suffer from some kind of PTSD. 

When the team had shown up offering hope, Sara had let herself feel it. When they laid out their plan, Sara let herself believe everything would work out. When they made it to the Vanishing Point, Sara let herself believe that this was it, they would save him and everything would be alright. And when they pulled him out of that pocket dimension, his arm missing at the shoulder, his body practically glowing with dangerous levels of temporal energy, she felt that hope slip away. 

Gideon had managed to siphon off the excess radiation, running a diagnostic on his shoulder and determining that they could implant a futuristic prosthetic, but that was only part of the problem. They could give him an arm, but she couldn’t guarantee that he would ever wake up to use it. 

Sara had spent the last three days by his bed. She left long enough to relieve herself. Food had to be brought to her and she barely ate it and Gideon had reported that she was exercising her League training in staying awake for all of that time. 

“He’s here, he’s so close and it might not be enough.” she finally continued. 

“There isn’t anything I can say, Sara. I can’t make promises and I know hope filled platitudes will not help. So, I’ll only say this. You don’t have to leave, but please, eat, please sleep. If he wakes up, he's going to need your help and how exactly are you going to help him if your too exhausted to stand. Too malnourished to function.” 

Sara took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She knew he was right, so she relented, taking up a place in the other exam chair and letting herself slip into a restless sleep. 

xXx

There was nothing but pain. It stretched on forever, searing and burning, slicing through his sanity. And then the pain was gone and there was nothing and he prayed, for the first time since he sat Shiva for his mother that this wasn’t the death Sara had experienced, that she hadn’t suffered like this. 

His thoughts slingshotted from one idea to the next. In one moment he thought of Sara in the next Louisa. For a moment he thought of Mick and then for another there would be no thoughts, only blank darkness. Then it would all come rushing back to him and he would relive his final moments over and over and over again. He would live through the moments his father had caused the most damage, the moments he couldn’t protect his sister. 

It took time, but eventually he realized he was living through timelines. His own, and the ones that hadn’t been able to play out. He saw what would have happened if he hadn’t stepped between Lewis and Lisa on the night he broke her heart. He saw what would have happened if Mick hadn’t have come to his rescue. He lived through the horror of knowing what would have happened if they hadn't been able to save Louisa from Lewis on the night he she came into his life. 

There was more, there was so much more and not all of it was bad. There were timelines that showed him what he and Sara could have. What Lisa and Caitlin could have. What his team, his people, the ones he refused to call family even thought that was exactly what they were, could have. There was so much out there, so much possibility and he wanted to live those possibilities. 

He needed to live those possibilities.

There was nothing and then there was everything and then nothing came again. It cycled over and over and over again, spiraling infinitely out around him. And then it stopped. There wasn’t anything, there wasn’t nothing. And then there was a voice, many voices they were loud and frantic, celebratory and worried. He knew the voices, he knew almost all of them. Rip and Martin. Jax and Ray. Mick and Gideon.

Sara. 

They spoke around him, they spoke about him and all he wanted to do was answer, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move he could speak, he wasn’t even sure he was breathing. 

It calmed eventually, he was able to process what was being said, what was happening. He knew he had been in a pocket dimension, he knew he was missing the arm he used to hold down the failsafe, he knew he was trapped in a coma because of the radiation from the Oculus. And worst of all, he knew Sara was sitting at his bedside, not eating, not sleeping, not taking care of herself in her grief, her worry for him. 

He made a note to thank The Professor  _ when  _ he woke up, for watching out for her. It was the knowledge that she was struggling that drove him to fight for his freedom. To fight for consciousness. He needed to be free, he needed to make it through this. If not for him, for Sara, for Louisa. 

He needed to be free. 

xXx

Leoanrd gasped as his eyes flew open, the light of the medbay nearly blinding him with the sudden exposure. He shook, gasping for breath. He was too cold and too warm all at once. 

“Sara.” he breathed through a gasp, fighting for his voice. “Sara.” he repeated as he heard the movement beside him, saw the movement from the corner of his vision. 

“Len? Len I’m here.” 


	11. Part XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe and Barry have a very late night surprise for Sara and Leonard.

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part XI

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

“Barry? Joe?” Sara questioned, confused and exhausted. It was nearly two in the morning and with Leonard on the Waverider getting an upgrade on his arm and a physical from Gideon, she was looking forward to a full night of sleep. She loved Leonard, but in the last two weeks or so his PTSD had made for several sleepless nights for both of them and the lack of sleep was wearing the control on her bloodlust thin. “What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“I’m sorry. I know it’s late, but this can’t wait.” Barry replied, shifting from one foot to the other on her doorstep. She stepped aside, letting them in. 

“What’s so important it couldn’t wait?” she asked as they entered the living room. 

“Well, I’m just going to come out with it, there’s really no way to break this easily.” Joe explained. “About four hours ago a little boy walked into the precinct asking for The Flash. Captain Singh called Barry who was at Star Labs with the rest of us wrapping up a case.” Joe continued. “The kid was looking for his father and he knows that The Flash knows him.” 

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but it just wasn’t connecting for Sara. “What are you saying?” 

“His mother told him that Leonard was his father.” 

Suddenly she didn’t feel quite so tired anymore. “Len has another kid?” 

Barry nodded. “Caitlin ran DNA tests to make sure his mom wasn’t just making up a story, though I don’t know why anyone would tell their kid their father is a super villian.” 

“He’s not…” 

“I know, but she told him a few years ago.” 

“So why is he just showing up now?” Sara asked. 

Joe looked angry as he replied; “She ran out on him. Left him to fend for himself, not that he wasn’t doing that already.” 

“Are you alright?” Barry asked, suddenly concerned. She couldn’t blame him. She was fighting a losing battle with her bloodlust.

“I haven’t gotten much sleep lately, my bloodlust is a little strong.” Sara explained. “Thankful we discovered it’s not a danger to Len or Lou.” 

“How so?”

“Instead of an urge to kill, I get really possessive. I had an episode a few days ago and I almost attacked the mailman for talking to Lou.” 

“Maybe we should take Luke back to the lab for the night then.” Joe suggested. 

“He’s here?” she asked.

“He’s out in the car with Cecile.” 

“No, he should have a real bed tonight.” she told them. She had a point even if her tone brokered no arguments. 

“Alright. I’ll come back in the morning with what we can get from the apartment he was living in and whatever information Cecile can find.” Joe told her, standing. “I’ll go get him.” 

When Joe was gone, Sara turned her attention on Barry. “How is he?” she asked. 

“He’s malnourished according to Caitlin, and he has a few bruises, though he says he was attacked by the neighborhood kids on his way to the precinct so we’re pretty sure she never physically hurt him.” he explained. “There’s plenty of evidence that says she mentally abused him though. He’s very careful about everything, what he says, what he does. He doesn’t speak unless you speak to him first, he’s leery of asking questions, he even apologized for “bothering” Captain Singh when he showed up to ask for help.” 

Sara took a deep breath, staving off the anger that would have driven her out to hunt his mother down. Before she could act on the urge, however, Joe came back in, trailed by a young boy that made her heart stop. “He could be Len’s twin when he was his age.” she said, looking him over. If Sara didn’t know better she would have thought Luke was an anachronism. 

Slowly she approached him, kneeling down. He was no more than eight, maybe six if he was growing up to be Leonard’s size, though if he was as malnourished as Barry said, she couldn’t imagine he would be going through growth spurts. 

“Hi, I’m Sara.” she introduced herself. 

He looked nervous but replied all the same. “I’m Luke.” he replied. Then, hesitantly; “Are you and my daddy married?” 

Sara smiled. “No, we haven’t gotten around to that yet, but we might as well be.” she told him. “He’s out of town right now, but he’ll be back soon. In the meantime, do you want to stay here with us?” 

Confused he asked; “Us?” 

Sara nodded. “Myself and your little sister, Louisa.” 

For a split second that shy little boy disappeared, his eyes growing wide with excitement. “I have a sister?” and then it was gone as he flinched back, undoubtedly worried he had upset her. 

“You do. She’s three.” Sara explained. “What do you say we go get you ready for bed and you can meet her in the morning?”

He nodded, waiting for her to get up and lead the way. She exchanged a few parting words with Joe and Barry on their way, before turning back to Luke who was looking at the photographs hanging on the wall in the living room. The only way she could think to describe his expression was longing. It broke her heart to say the least, but at the same time, she wanted to walk out of here right now, make Joe tell her who his mother is and hunt her down for hurting this child. 

“Ready?” she asked. He nodded following her upstairs. She stopped in her room first, grabbing one of Leonard’s old sweaters and then led him to the guest room. She had him change into the sweater and brush his teeth and when all that was done she tucked him in. An action that was clearly foreign to him. “I bet today was pretty stressful, huh?” he nodded. “Well, you try not to worry about anything else tonight. Just close your eyes and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day.” she told him. “I’m just down the hall if you need me, I’ll leave the door cracked open.” she finished before standing up and heading for the door. 

“Miss Sara.” she heard his little voice call out and she turned as she made it to the door. “Thank you.” 

She smiled. “You’re welcome sweetheart.”

xXx

Sara was up around seven the next morning. It was hard waking up without Leonard there, even after having to do it for over a year. Now a year after getting him back it wasn’t any easier, especially after everything that had happened earlier that morning. She was looking forward to the day when it was no longer necessary to run off to the Waverider every few months. 

When they had gotten Leonard back, his body was full of temporal radiation, effectively changing his body chemistry. Tests showed that the changes weren’t permanent but would most likely take quite some time to fade. In the meantime, regrowing his arm was impossible. The radiation in his cells made it so that they were no longer compatible with the DNA on file and as such, would reject anything from the previous version of himself until Gideon could siphon of the radiation fully. There was so much of it though, she couldn’t do it all at once, which meant that he was stuck with a prosthetic arm for the foreseeable future. She’d never tell him, because he’d made it clear he hated the thing, but she thought he looked kinda sexy with it. It was very Terminator.  

With a sigh, Sara pulled herself from bed and got dressed. She didn’t know when Leonard would be home, there was never any guarantee when he went to see Gideon, especially since the Legends were still running missions for the Bureau. So, with that in mind she crept out of her room and into the guest room, gathering up Luke’s clothes while he slept on, looking peaceful despite everything he’d been through. She watched him for a moment, her heart breaking as she thought about how angry Leonard was going to be when he found out that not only did he have a son he hadn’t been told about, but that that son had lived a life similar to his when he was that age. 

Sara crept back out and made her way downstairs, dropping his clothes in the washing machine and starting up the coffee pot. It was going to be a long day, she could just feel it. 

By 7:45 Joe was knocking at her door with an armful of files and a child’s suitcase that had definitely seen better days. They exchanged pleasantries, Sara got them some coffee and they got comfortable at the kitchen table. 

“His given name is Luke Selenkov.” Joe began. “His mother’s name is Alexa Selenkov-”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Sara interrupted. 

“You know her?” Joe asked surprised. 

“I know of her. They worked a job together almost a decade ago, she double crossed him after they escaped with the take.” she explained. “He said he could feel something was wrong the entire job, but he didn’t realize what it was until she had a gun pointed at him.” 

“Lovely woman.” he replied, sliding her police file to Sara. Sara hummed. “The apartment leaves little doubt that he was taking care of himself. Everything is at child height, any food we found, which wasn’t much, was nonperishable and could be made in the microwave. Anything that couldn’t be made reachable he rigged up ways of making himself taller. His room was obsessively neat and organized, nearly spotless, though all of his things are old and most of his clothes are too small. Everything he owns, including the clothes that still fit him, fit in this suitcase.” Joe gestured to the suitcase on the floor beside him. 

“What did he say happened? Why now?” 

“Supposedly, and I have no reason not to believe him at this point, Alexa threw a fit one morning, went out and never came home.” 

“Do you think something happened to her?” Sara asked. 

“Yeah, I think she got frustrated and decided to give up on being a mother. Again, not that she was much of one to begin with. She was seen in the company of members of the Royal Flush gang. Organized Crime says they know of her. She’s been associated with them since she was sixteen.” Joe explained. 

“That fits with what Len found out after she double crossed him.”  Sara replied. “How long was she gone?” 

“About a month.” Joe sounded rightly angry. “He said he stayed until they turned off the power.” 

Sara put that aside, she didn’t need to get any angrier, not with her bloodlust so prominent. “And she told him who his father was, but didn’t tell Leonard?” 

“Luke made it sound like she was trying to upset him. He was a big fan of the flash.” 

“Was?” Sara asked. 

Joe looked amused. “Well, when I was packing up his room, he had a Captain Cold action figure but no Flash one.” 

“Leonard will definitely love that.” 

Joe chuckled before sobering. “Cecile says it’s not going to be easy, but if you and Leonard agree she thinks she can pull a few strings and make it so Alexa can’t come back for him. I can’t imagine she won’t try to take him back out of spite.” 

“I definitely don’t want her anywhere near him, but that’s really up to Leonard. Legally speaking everything is his decision.” 

“I’m sure you can count on him agreeing with you.” Joe replied. 

“Miss Sara?” Luke’s voice cut through their conversation, and Sara turned to find Luke, swimming in his father’s sweater, standing in the kitchen doorway looking worried. “I can’t find my clothes.” 

“I’m sorry, hun. I was hoping they would be done before you woke up. I threw them in the washing machine.” she told him, getting up. She picked up the suitcase Joe had brought and walked up to him. “Detective West brought all of your things from the apartment though.” Luke reached out for the case and she handed it over. “Why don’t you go get changed and unpack and I’ll make us breakfast.” 

He nodded, walking away without another word. When he was gone Sara sighed, returning to the table. “He looks so much like Len and now all I can think about is what he went through with Lewis.” she shook her head. “He’s going to be so upset when he finds out. He’ll probably be able to let go of the fact that she didn’t tell him, but when he finds out how Luke was treated he’s going to go off. 

“I can imagine. It may not be much consolation, but we’re almost certain she never laid a hand on him.” 

Sara sighed again. “It’s something at least.” 

“Well, I’ll leave all this here with you. I’m sure Snart’s going to want to look it over.” Joe said, getting up. Sara walked him to the door. 

“Guess I should probably wake Lou and tell her what’s going on.” Sara replied as she opened the door for him. 

“Good luck.” 

xXx

Louisa was thrilled, a huge relief for Sara to say the least. Sara had gone upstairs after Joe had left and woke Lou and after a few questions and some simplified answers, Lou was jumping out of bed and running down the hall. For a moment Sara was glad Leonard wasn’t here. He’d never let her live it down if he knew she was struggling not to cry at his children’s first meeting. 

Lou, as enthusiastically with all things in her life, jumped on Luke when he came into view, loudly and proudly proclaiming that she had a big brother. And just like that she watched it all melt off Luke’s shoulders. He grinned and hugged her back and it was like they had known each other their whole lives. She spent the rest of the day watching them play their little games and run around the house like there wasn’t a care in the world. 

A little before dinner she sent them upstairs to play in Louisa’s room while she made dinner and it was at this time that reality came back. 

Sara was cutting vegetables at the counter when she heard him walk in. The next thing she knew he was standing behind her, boxing her in against the counter, and laying a trail of kisses along her neck. 

“Miss me?” he asked. 

She smiled. “You have no idea.” 

There must have been something in her tone, because then he was pulling away and she turned around to face him. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Sara took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. 

“I think you should sit down.” she told him, and he did, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table. 

“What happened?” he questioned when she struggled to continue. 

“This is a lot to take in so I’m just going to say it. Joe and Barry showed up last night. Apparently a little boy came into the precinct looking for his father and he asked for the Flash because The Flash knows him.” Sara explained. 

“What are you saying?” 

“You...you have a son, Leonard.” she continued. “Caitlin ran a DNA test, though, when you see him you’ll have no doubt.” she paused, watching the emotions play across his face. “His name is Luke.” she powered on. “And he’s upstairs right now with Lou.” 

“What does Lou think?” 

Sara smiled. “She adores him. He’s like the greatest thing that’s ever happened to her right now.” 

“I think you should tell me everything before I go up and meet him then.” Leonard replied. 

“Well, his name is Luke Selenski-”

“Alexa? His mother is Alexa?” Sara nodded. “That would make him, what, seven?” 

“Almost, he’ll be seven in about a month.” she explained. Sara hesitated. “I need you to stay calm, okay.” 

Wearily, Leonard agreed. 

“Alexa wasn’t… isn’t exactly the best mother. He barely had anything to wear much less toys or any other possessions, and from the state of the apartment it’s obvious he was taking care of himself. Based on his overall health he’s probably never been to a doctor in recent years and he’s malnourished.”

Leonard had a pretty good grip on his emotions. He’d made it a point to learn to control them early in life, but he also had a tell. When he was truly angry, he ground his teeth together, his jaw flexing almost imperceptibly. 

“Why is he here now?” Leonard finally asked. 

“About a month ago, Alexa got angry at Luke and stormed out of the apartment. She never came back. He continued to live there on his own for about a month before they cut the power and he was forced to find help.” 

Leonard sat back in his chair, bracing his hands against the table in an effort to ground himself. 

“There’s one more thing.” she continued carefully. “We’re pretty certain she never laid a hand on him but, it is pretty obvious she abused him verbally.” 

With a sharp inhale, Leonard got to his feet. “He’s upstairs with Lou?” he clarified. She nodded, and without waiting he turned on his heel and walked out. 

A few minutes later Lou came downstairs alone.

xXx

Leonard had heard people describe the laughter of their children as the most beautiful sound they had ever heard, but he’d never really understood that until now. Louisa’s bedroom door was cracked just a bit, and he peeked in. Sara was right, there was absolutely no doubt that Luke was his son. 

Leonard knocked on the door, drawing their attention away from their game. Lou’s face lit up as she jumped to her feet. “Daddy.” she exclaimed, running up to him. He smiled, swinging her up into his arms. 

“Were you good for your mother?” he asked her. 

She nodded. “Look Daddy, I’ve got a big brother now.” she replied, gesturing excitedly at Luke. 

Leonard smiled. “I heard. Why don’t you go downstairs and help mom with dinner so Luke and I can talk.” 

“Okay.” she said as he put her back on her feet. She ran off, and Leonard watched as she disappeared around the corner and down the stairs. When she was gone he turned back into the room, finding Luke still sitting on the floor, fiddling with a little Captain Cold action figure. Leonard stepped up, sitting on the floor beside him. 

“So,” Leonard began. “How are you settling in?” 

“Good.” Luke replied, still fiddling with his toy. His voice was soft, shy. 

“I like your doll.” he continued, watching a smile finally tug at Luke’s lips. “You’re not a fan of Captain Cold are you?” Luke finally looked up at him, nodding. “Me too.” Luke chuckled a little, breaking the tension. “Alright, let’s be honest here.” Leonard continued. “This is a little weird, not bad weird, but not really normal. So what do you say, if it’s alright with you, we take this one day at a time?” 

“I’d like that.” Luke replied softly. 

“Good, and you know you can talk to me or Sara about anything. This is your home now too if you want it to be and we’re here for you.” 

“Thank you.” Luke replied, smiling a little more. 

There was a moment where they just sat there, until Leonard reached out and asked if he could see his toy. 

“What do you think?” he asked, holding it up beside his face. “Any resemblance.” Luke laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, I don’t think so either. But how many people can say they have their own action figure.” 

Luke continued to laugh. “It’s impressive.” 

“Do me a favor, tell Sara that. She’s not as impressed.” Leonard chuckled, handing his toy back. 

“Boys, dinner!” Sara’s voice filtered up from the bottom of the stairs. 

“Ready?” Leonard asked as he got to his feet. Luke nodded, getting to his feet as well. Without warning, Leonard scooped Luke up, carrying him under his arm as the little boy laughed and giggled. 

xXx

“Are you alright?” Sara asked softly as she watched Leonard undress that night. His back was to her and she studied the line of his broad shoulders, the jagged line of scar tissue where his prosthetic arm was connected to the flesh of his shoulder. 

Leonard sighed. “I’ve been better.” he turned to the bed, sauntering over and slipping under the covers. “What did Joe say about our legal rights?” 

“Well, Alexa abandoned him and there’s evidence of neglect so, as his closest blood relative, you’re well within your rights to keep him. Cecile is looking into pressing charges against her.” 

“She can try, but the minute word gets back to Alexa she’ll go to ground and hide out until the statute of limitations runs out.”

“Can she hide out that long?” 

“With her connections in the Royal Flush gang, absolutely. She has an on again, off again relationship with the Ace.” 

Sara grimaced. “Please tell me they don’t actually refer to each other as card suits.” 

Leonard scowled. “I wish I could.” 

“Ugh, that’s worse than Captain Cold.” 

“Ye-hey,” Leonard replied. “That was uncalled for.” 

“Hardly.” Sara laughed. “I’m outnumbered now, I have to get my hits in when I can.” 

“Leonard snorted. “You are not.” 

“Oh please. You’ve got two kids that adore you unconditionally. Daddy can do no wrong.” she teased. 

“Yeah, they’ll grow out of that when they get to know me a little better.” he joked. 

Sara laughed, leaning over and wrapping her arms around his shoulder, resting her head against his shoulder. They laid in silence for awhile, until Sara spoke up again;

“I think we should take Luke out tomorrow. He needs new clothes at the very least.” 

“Mmm, let him pick out some stuff for his room too. Help him get comfortable.” Sara agreed. “Whatever we do, we need to keep an eye on him. Alexa may not want to be a mother, but she damn well won’t be happy that he ended up here.”

“You think she’d tried to take him just to spite you?” 

“I wouldn’t put it past her.”


	12. Part XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been three months since Luke came to live with the Lance-Snart family and it's time for his first real Halloween

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part XII

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

“Ya know… there is a limit to my good will with this. Right?” 

Louisa grinned, giggling through her teeth as she looked up at her father. 

“Being cute isn’t going to change that.” Leonard continued. 

It was Halloween, an admittedly great time of year for him. Between the costumes and the cooler weather he was in thief heaven. Or, at least he would be if he were still a thief. After traveling through time, saving free will, stopping an evil speedster all among other things, it was starting to lose it’s thrill. And now with two children to come home to, he was less inclined to take the risk that he wouldn’t get away clean. So, despite Sara’s ever encouragement that he was free to do as he pleased as long as he came home to them, he retired from the thief game, only putting his skills to use when one of the heroes needed them. 

This left a big chunk of his life open to new possibilities. The family could live quite comfortably on his retirement fund once they sold off all of the stolen property he’d stashed, but he quickly realized, around the time they re-enrolled Luke in first grade and Lou started preschool, that sitting around the house all day with nothing to keep him entertained was driving him insane. So he went out and got a job, surprise, surprise. 

As it turned out, finding a new career with his record was a lot easier than he or Sara originally expected. It hadn’t occurred to him a few years ago that security companies hired former thieves to help design and test better security systems. And there were several companies that wanted him. So much so, that he decided to remain freelance and work as a consultant, rather than settle with just one company. It worked out great. He could set his own hours, make quite a bit on each project and still enjoy doing what he loved without the concern that he’d be arrested. 

Setting his own hours meant that he could take tonight off and watch Luke enjoy his first Halloween, not only with them but in general. Which brought him back to his current conversation. 

“Don’t I look cool Daddy.” Lou asked. Her sentences were becoming a lot more clear as time went on, reminding him how much she was growing. 

“You look adorable.” he replied. 

Lou pouted. “I’m not adorable! I’m The Flash!” 

“Oh right, sorry.” he placated. 

“Who are you, daddy?” 

“I’m The Flash too.” he replied. 

Louisa was so cute when she was confused, the way she scrunched up her little nose and furrowed her brow. “But, that’s not how The Flash looks.” she finally said. 

“No,” he agreed. “But it’s how your aunt Iris dressed when she was The Flash.” 

She stared up in awe. “Aunt Iris was The Flash?” 

“For a few days apparently. I’m sorry I missed that.” he muttered the last part to himself. 

Louisa grinned again, placated. 

They could hear footsteps coming down the front stairs, and turned as Sara and Luke stepped into the living room. 

“Captain Cold!” Louisa exclaimed accusingly, pointing a finger at Luke. Luke jumped to attention, pointing the little replica cold gun at her, his furred hood flopping over his goggled eyes. 

“Chill out Flash.” he replied, before following Lou in a chase around the room. Sara stepped up to Leonard while they were distracted, running a hand down the front of his jacket. 

“Looking good Flash.” she told him. “Iris is going to love it. Barry is not.”

“Perfect.” Leonard smirked, letting his eyes drift to her own costume. “I’m sure Felicity will be flattered by yours.” he continued. 

Sara wore the standard Overwatch fare. A white dress, well tailored and matching shoes. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had thick rimmed, black glasses on her nose, the lenses untreated glass. 

“You think so?” she asked. He nodded. “Good, cause I have no idea how she wears these shoes everyday, but I have a whole new respect for her now.” 

Leonard chuckled, leaning down to pull her into a kiss. When they separated, Sara turned to Luke and Lou who were simulating some kind of battle. Every so often Luke would pop off a cold pun, confirming, without a doubt, that he was in fact, his father’s son. 

“He’s way too good at those.” Sara said. 

“He’s a chip off the old block.” Leonard smirked proudly. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “Alright guys, trick or treat and then to Star Labs for the party.”

A chorus of cheers went up as the kids dropped out of character, grabbing their pillowcases and running for the door. 

“I hope your ready for this.” Leonard said, already feeling his age as he watched them jump up and down with the kind of energy reserved only for the young. 

“Bring it on.” Sara replied. 

xXx

Star Labs was decorated to the nines. Cisco and Caitlin had certainly gone out of their way to make it truly spectacular. Based on the occasional gold foil decoration, Lisa had a hand in it as well. The halls were lined with streamers and fake cobwebs, and from the ceiling hung plastic bats and ghosts that glowed in the dim lighting. There were cords of lights along the floor and animatronic creatures every so many feet. 

Just ahead they could hear the low hum of conversation, the party already in full swing. Louisa and Luke ran ahead, earning cheers as they burst through the door. Sara and Leonard shared a smile as they followed. 

When they stepped through the doorway into the cortex they were greeted by all of Team Flash, Team Legends, Team Arrow, Kara and Alex. All of them were dressed to fit the theme. Everyone had to come as a superhero if they decided to dress up at all. The only rule being that couples couldn’t switch costumes, ensuring that Oliver couldn’t just put on a suit or Cisco, Caitlin and Lisa couldn’t just switch up their costumes to save time. Sara didn’t think they had to worry about Leonard and herself. She couldn’t imagine Leonard trying to wear her White Canary leathers. Although he did go to the trouble of having Gideon fabricate Iris’ mask and jacket the last time he was on the Waverider, so she supposed she couldn’t put it past him. 

“You guys look so cool.” Barry said as Louisa stopped in front of him. He knelt down to get a better look, laughing as Lou chattered at him about her costume. Luke thanked Barry quickly and darted off to find Mick. 

“Aw Sara, I thought you were dressing up?” Felicity said as she approached. She was dressed as Supergirl. 

“I am dressed up.” Sara replied.

“Who are you supposed to be?” 

Behind her, Oliver sighed, shaking his head. William stood beside him trying not to laugh and looking adorable in his superman costume. 

“I’m Overwatch.” Sara explained watching Felicity’s face light up. 

“Really?” 

Sara laughed as Felicity pulled her into a hug. As they separated Sara looked around the cortex. The teams were spread out throughout the room. Everyone had apparently decided to dress up, including Mick, which was a surprise. He stood near the back dressed in a dark blue parka and laughing as Luke chattered up at him. Ray, Nate and Zari were standing with them. Ray dressed as The Arrow, Nate, Vibe and Zari, Heatwave. Not far from them Amaya, Jax, Professor Stein and Clarissa, all cooing over baby Ronnie who was dressed in a little firestorm onsie. All of them were dressed up except for Professor Stein and Clarissa, Amaya as Firestorm as well, Jax as Steel,  and Lily as The Atom. 

Iris broke off from her conversation with Lisa, Cisco and Caitlin (dressed as, Speedy, Jesse Quick and Alex), smiling as she approached Leonard. Barry got up from the floor as she passed, pouting when he caught sight of Leonard himself. Judging by the smirk on his face, Sara could guess what they were talking about. 

“Lookin good Canary.” Sara greeted Kara as she and Alex approached with Laurel. Alex was dressed as Black Canary while Laurel was dressed as Vixen. 

“I feel like I can take on the world in this.” Kara said. 

“You have super powers, Kara, you could take on the world in yoga pants.” Felicity laughed. 

“I know that, but it’s like when you get a new pair of cute shoes. Very empowering.” 

xXx

“I think the real test of whether or not their my kids will be how long it takes them to find the candy we hid.” Leonard said, loud enough for Sara to hear him through the bathroom door. She had ducked in with a big black shopping bag as soon as he finished his shower, promising a surprise as she took a shower of her own. 

“Didn’t hear them before we put them to bed? They’re already making plans to search the house.” Sara called back out. She’d been in there for almost an hour and Leonard was hoping she came out soon. It had been a long night and he was looking forward to crashing. The idea that the kids were already planning was amusing though. 

In the few months since Luke had come to live with them, he and Lou had become near inseparable. Luke had made several friends in his new school, but he always had time for his baby sister. He was a leader though, that much was certain. Any of his little plans always involve folding Lou in, and she was more than happy to tag along. It was sweet really. He only hoped they stayed that close when they were both teenagers. 

Leonard heard the bathroom light switch click and then the door was opening. He sat forward a bit, trying to peek around the door frame to see what she had made him wait so long to see. 

Whatever exhaustion he had felt was gone the moment she stepped into the room. He cursed under his breath, taking her in. At first all he could see was his old parka (he’d had Gideon fabricate a new one after he’d been pulled from the pocket dimension and decided to be sentimental and keep the old one), but as soon as she got a little closer he could see passed the open zipper. Beneath the parka she wore a matching navy lingerie set, accented with pieces of leather along the cups of the bra. There were leather straps  along the chest and the sides of the panties and she wore matching navy heels as well. 

“Chill out, Leonard.” she said, drawing him out of his thoughts. 

“Kinda looks like it’s about to heat up, actually.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise eventually I will write some side stories for Lisa/Caitlin and Lisa/Caitlin/Cisco


	13. Part XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a prompt fill for Firesoul   
> For your drabbles, if you want: Captain Canary + "Why is there a dog on the couch?"

Her Before Us

Earth 34 Part XIII

One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

Prompt Fill

xXx

“Why is there a dog on the couch?” Leonard asked, peering over the back. He’d been about to duck in for a kiss from Sara, a little greeting since he hadn’t seen her in over a week, only to catch sight of the giant beast laying out beside her.

“Sleeping.” Sara replied simply, turning to smile up at him. She puckered up, clearly demanding a kiss, which he obliged. 

“I can see that,” he continued when he pulled away again. “Why is it sleeping on the couch?” 

“Because the floor is cold and I haven’t gotten him a dog bed yet.” she answered as though it should be obvious. 

Leonard gave her a look that clearly said, this isn’t as funny as you think it is. Sara’s return look told him she thought otherwise. “It's a husky, I’m sure it can handle a cold floor.” 

Sara hummed, shrugging. “Probably.” she said, turning back around to focus on her book again. Leonard stood there, staring down at the black and white Husky, laying flat against the cushions of the sofa. 

“Maybe I should have been more clear.” he finally spoke up, leaning over the back of the couch to speak over her shoulder. “Why is there a dog in the house?” 

“He followed us home from the park the day you left to meet Mick on the Waverider.” Sara explained. “I had him checked for tags and chips, no luck.” 

“And you didn’t take him to a shelter because… you haven’t had time?” 

“No, I told the kids we could keep him.” she looked back at him. “That’s alright isn’t it?” 

Her tone left little doubt that she didn’t actually care if it was alright with him or not. “Sure.” he relented, his own tone letting her know he would get her back for this. 

It wasn’t that Leonard didn’t like dogs, he liked them just fine, loved them actually, didn’t trust anyone who didn’t at least like the idea of dogs, but it was this particular breed of dog that made his suspicious.

“What’s his name?” he asked, daring her to tell him she named it after him. It’s the only logical answer of course. Sara had teased him on numerous occasions about how much like a Husky he was. He didn’t see it, but his sister apparently did and now the joke wouldn’t die. 

“Don’t know yet. A meeting has been scheduled for after Lou’s nap, but before dinner, where the kids will discuss the merits of various names. Luke is upstairs right now making a list. I swear, your son is exactly like you.” she told him.

Setting aside the well of pride he felt at that, he stood up right, moving around the sofa and standing at the edge, arms crossed as he stared down at the dog once again. Sara watched amused as, eventually, the dog realized it was being watched and opened his eyes, looking right back at Leonard. 

“Your name is not going to be Leonard, dog.” he said. Sara thinks he’s trying to be menacing but it only makes her laugh. 

“Why would we name the dog after you dad?” Luke’s voice draws their attention to the doorway from the foyer. “That would be really confusing.” the dog looks happy to see Luke and god help him, he’s trapped. There’s no way he can send it off now, not when its grown so attached his children and vice versa. Luke, suddenly realizing that his father is home after a week of being gone, runs up to him, throwing his arms around Leonard’s waist. Leonard is all too happy to return it. 

Sara grins ready to explain, but Leonard cuts her off before she can. “Sara.” he warns. He managed to keep the joke away from Lou, mostly because she wasn’t old enough to make the connection yet, but Luke was and he was bright too, it wouldn’t take much explaining and then it would never go away, her reputation forever tarnished by the image of a dog wearing his goggles and doggy parka. 

Amused Sara replied; “No reason sweetie. Did you come up with some good names?” she asked. He perked up, running up and jumping into the space beside her. The dog scooted closer, laying its head in her lap. She scratched behind his ears absently. 

“Yeah, tons. When can Lou wake up?” Luke asked. 

“I’ll wake her up in about a half an hour.” she told him. “In the meantime, what names you picked.” 

An hour later, Leonard is helping Sara make dinner, or rather Sara is helping Leonard, when they hear Luke speak up in the living room. 

“Oh, it’s ‘cause dad is Captain Cold.” 

Sara laughs at Leonard’s scowl, doubling over the cutting board. 

“God damnit!”       


	14. Part IVX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a prompt from firesoulstuff on Tumblr: Captain Canary + "I might have lost it"

Her Before Us

Part IVX

Earth 34: One Night Stand/Accidental Pregnancy AU

xXx

“I might have lost it.” Leonard said, far too casual for Sara’s taste.

“How?” She asked, trying not to sound incredulous. He simply shrugged. “Leonard.” She sighed. “Where is the last place you had it?”

“I took it down with their laundry to be washed.” he explained, turning back to tablet.

Sara opened her mouth to reply, only to be cut short but the wailing cries of their daughter, as she raced into the room.

“Mommy! I can’t find Flash anywhere!” Lou cried, sniffling and red faced. Sara looked up at Leonard pointedly as she picked up the three year old. He sighed dramatically, getting up from his seat and disappearing into the hallway.

“Don’t cry baby, he’s right here.” Leonard spoke up as he returned, holding up the Flash plush toy he had with every fiber of his being. Lou turned to look over her shoulder at him, her face lighting up as he approached.

“You found it daddy!” she exclaimed, reaching out for him and the doll. He scooped her out of Sara’s arms and handed the toy over. “You’re the best daddy.” she continued hugging him.

Leonard resolutely ignored Sara’s smug look, his own expression equal parts pained and annoyed. “I try sweetheart.”


End file.
